ABSTRACT
In Recognizing Wrongs (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 2020), John CP Goldberg and Benjamin C Zipursky develop and defend ‘civil recourse theory’, according to which torts are injurious wrongs that give rise to a claim of redress. My discussion extends beyond tort law to explore the ethics of reparations for historical injustice, in particular, regarding the case of Black Americans. I begin by relating the notion of wrongdoing that figures prominently in civil recourse theory to morality. Then I explore the idea that the relevant sort of wrongdoing is relational and injurious, and how this claim applies to historical injustice. Finally, I take up the idea that a redress claim is one a victim is entitled but not obligated to make in order to think about whether the discretionary nature of tort action is empowering to persons who have been wrongfully injured.
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Erin I Kelly, Redress and Reparations for Injurious Wrongs, Law and Philosophy (2021), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10982-021-09415-9. Published 3 September 2021.
First posted 2021-09-07 09:00:22
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