Criminal Attempts

Citation

Duff RA (2012) Criminal Attempts. In: Marmor A (ed.) Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Law. Routledge Philosophy Companions. London: Routledge, pp. 191-204. http://www.routledgementalhealth.com/books/details/9781138776234/

Abstract
First paragraph: Many criminal offenses are so defined that their commission requires the occurrence of the primary mischief or harm with which the law is concerned. The mischief with which offenses of homicide are primarily concerned is the death, or unlawful killing, of a human being; murder and other species of criminal homicide are so defined that they are committed only when someone is killed. The primary mischief with which the offense of criminal damage is concerned is the nonconsensual destruction of or damage to property; the offense is so defined that it is committed only if such destruction or damage actually occurs. We can call such offenses "consummate" (see Husak 1995): their commission involves the consummation of the mischief at which the law is aimed.