Why are we so obsessed with the guilty mind?

Name: Why are we so obsessed with the guilty mind?
Start: 2026-02-09
End: 2026-02-09
Location: Faculty of Law - Seminar Room F

Speaker(s):

Prof. Dr. Tatjana Hörnle, Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law

Series:

Criminal Law Discussion Group

Associated with:

Criminal Law Discussion Group

About the event

Event date:

9 February 2026

Event time:

13:00 - 14:00

Oxford week:

HT 4

Venue:

Faculty of Law - Seminar Room F

Registration:

Organised by:

Criminal Law Discussion Group

Who to contact:

ashita.alag@law.ox.ac.uk

Ashita Alag

Add to calendar

Abstract

I will challenge a widespread assumption: the assumption that offenders’ mental states matter a lot for criminal law assessments. Most legal systems assign intentions an important role in the definition of offenses and for sentencing. This fits with common moral intuitions. However, criminal law can (and I will argue: should) be constructed in a different way.