On Special Liberty and the Motivation to Harm

Justin Kotzé*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Special liberty is a destructive and criminogenic force operating throughout the social structure and is arguably the main source of social harm today. The subject of special liberty feels entitled to risk harm to others in pursuit of their own expressive and/or instrumental interests. Since its inception, the concept of special liberty has been used to make sense of numerous issues. However, little attention has been directed towards clearly delineating the two main forms of self-interest served by its use. Our understanding of why special liberty is employed in particular circumstances and conditions is therefore limited. This article makes an original contribution by attempting to formalize an initial delineation of expressive and instrumental self-interest apropos the use of special liberty.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberazae053
JournalBritish Journal of Criminology
Early online date31 Jul 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 31 Jul 2024

Cite this