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Rethinking the Reasonable Person: An Egalitarian Reconstruction of the Objective Standard

Online ISBN:
9780191714788
Print ISBN:
9780199247820
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Rethinking the Reasonable Person: An Egalitarian Reconstruction of the Objective Standard

Mayo Moran
Mayo Moran
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
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Published online:
1 January 2010
Published in print:
9 October 2003
Online ISBN:
9780191714788
Print ISBN:
9780199247820
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

The reasonable person standard plays a central role in the law, especially in tort law, criminal law, and administrative law. However, the reasonable person has also attracted substantial criticism from egalitarian critics and feminists insofar as it presupposes contested notions of ‘normal’ behaviour and may discriminate against certain classes of defendant. Judges and mainstream theorists also increasingly question what the standard amounts to and how to apply it. Using these controversies as a point of departure, this book examines the promise and the perils of the reasonable person standard. It presents a systematic reassessment of the reasonable person in private law and criminal law, and of the feminist and egalitarian criticisms of the reasonable person in order for it to fulfil its egalitarian ambitions. It also cites specific changes and recommendations for the reconstruction of the reasonable person. Ultimately, it argues that an objective standard is not only defensible but essential. Yet only with a radical reconstruction will it be possible to realise the promise of the standard and to ensure a truly egalitarian conception of responsibility.

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