Attempts : In the Philosophy of Action and the Criminal Law

"Gideon Yaffe presents a ground-breaking work which demonstrates the importance of philosophy of action for the law. Many people are serving sentences not for completing crimes, but for trying to. So the law governing attempted crimes is of practical as well as theoretical importance. Questions arising in the adjudication of attempts intersect with questions in the philosophy of action, such as what intention a person must have, if any, and what a person must do, if anything, to be trying to act. Yaffe offers solutions to the difficult problems courts face in the adjudication of attempted crimes. He argues that the problems courts face admit of principled solution through reflection either on what it is to try to do something; or on what evidence is required for someone to be shown to have tried to do something; or on what sentence for an attempt is fair given the close relation between attempts and completions. The book argues that to try to do something is to be committed by one's intention to each of the components of success and to be guided by those commitments. Recognizing the implications of this simple and plausible position helps us to identify principled grounds on which the courts ought to distinguish between defendants charged with attempted crimes."--Pub. desc Dedication 6 Acknowledgments 8 Contents 10 Introduction 12 Part 1. What Are Attempts and Why Do We Criminalize Them? 30 1. Rationalizing the Criminalization of Attempt 32 2. The Need for an Intention 58 3. The Nature of Trying 83 Appendix: A Competing Conception of Trying 114 Part 2. The Elemental Conception of the Intention in Attempt and Its Implications 118 4. The Intention in Attempt 120 5. Circumstances and “Impossibility” 140 Appendix: Lady Eldon and Her Children, Mr Fact and Mr Law 178 6. If it Can’t be Done Intentionally Can it be Tried? 183 7. Trying by Asking: Solicitation as Attempt 203 Part 3. The Evidential Conception of the Act Element and Its Implications 224 8. The Need for an Act 226 9. Stupid Plans and Inherent Impossibility 248 10. The Act in Attempt 266 Part 4. Sentencing Attempts 296 11. Abandonment and Change of Mind 298 12. Is it Unfair to Punish Completed Crimes More than Attempts? 321 Bibliography 346 General Index 352 Here, Yaffe demonstrates the importance of philosophy of action for the law. Many people are serving sentences not for completing crimes, but for trying to. Yaffe's clear account of what it is to try to do something promises to resolve the difficulties courts face in the adjudication of attempted crimes