An Account of Blame and Guilt as the Basis for Censure and Punishment

Abstract This chapter offers an account of blame that makes sense of the criminal law as a blaming institution. It starts by giving an account of blame as a judgment that calls the blamed person to own her guilt. Owning guilt has three elements: acknowledging her wrongdoing without full excuse, making amends, and suffering the psychological pain of having wronged others and having failed to live up to her own standards. Section 6.2 responds to an objection according to which there is nothing intrinsically valuable in suffering this sort of psychological pain. It argues that a person with meaningful connection to others and proper self-regard sometime ought to feel negative feelings, like grief and guilt. Section 6.3 discusses the basis of blame, connecting the wrongful actions for which people are blamed to the poor quality of their will, while avoiding the confusion that such a connection indicates that they are really being blamed for the poor quality of their will. Section 6.4 explains how guilt can be a matter of public concern because of its relevance to reconciliation between wrongdoers and the political community. The chapter ends with a discussion of the connection between reconciliation and forgiveness.