Identity, Crime and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England

Download or read book Identity, Crime and Legal Responsibility in Eighteenth-Century England written by D. Rabin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2004-10-20 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the eighteenth century English defendants, victims, witnesses, judges, and jurors spoke a language of the mind. With their reputations or lives at stake, men and women presented their complex emotions and passions as grounds for acquittal or mitigation of punishment. Inside the courtroom the language of excuse reshaped crimes and punishments, signalling a shift in the age-old negotiation of mitigation. Outside the courtroom the language of the mind reflected society's preoccupation with questions of sensibility, responsibility, and the self.