Responsibility and the Boundaries of the Self

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Abstract
The law often invokes the notion of free will to justify holding individuals responsible for their actions. In this Article, Professor Dan-Cohen argues that we look beyond free will as the sole ground for responsibility. He offers an alternative account of responsibility that views the self as constantly engaged in the process of defining the boundaries of its spatial, temporal, and social identity. According to Professor Dan-Cohen, this alternative account better explains why we attribute or deny responsibility in familiar doctrinal settings - for example, strict and vicarious liability in tort law and the defenses of duress and provocation in criminal law. Professor Dan-Cohen concludes that legal responsibility may defeat itself by constricting our conception of the self to the notion of free will.

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