Justification as excuse plus

Journal article

Under what conditions are we justified in acting? This paper considers an answer that, to my knowledge at least, goes largely unexplored in the literature. According to the answer in question, D has a justification for performing an act only if two conditions are met. First, there must be an undefeated reason for D to perform the act. Second, it must be the case that, were D to lack this reason, D would have an excuse for performing it. So understood, the conditions of justification incorporate the conditions of excuse—one satisfies the former by satisfying the latter, and by satisfying an additional condition. Justifications, simply put, are excuses plus.

Authors: Edwards, J

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: National University of Singapore
• Journal: Singapore Journal of Legal Studies
• Pages: 57–79
• Publication date: 2025-03-01
• Acceptance date: 2025-01-31
• EISSN: 0218-2173
• Language: English