LogFAQs > #882467809

Wanglicious posted...

StealThisSheen posted...

If you get into saying something like, "Well, this person is crazy, so expect X reaction," you're basically getting into justifying it by going "Well, they're crazy" in the first place. If you're expecting something unjustified because of X, well... 9 times out of 10, X is the justification to begin with. They're crazy, they're emotional, they're young, and so on. There's a reason stuff like that shows up in defense of actions.

that's not an actual justification though. that's why i got into the definition, what you're describing here is somebody trying to justify it but then failing at it. justifying doesn't mean simply coming up with an excuse, which is what you've described here. none of those arguments - crazy, emotional, young, etc - are ever considered as actual justifications, just excuses. those two words don't mean the same, you can see the definition earlier.

for something to be justified, it needs to be just. has to be right, reasonable, well-grounded, sensible, etc. it's not just an excuse, it's an excuse with a strong, reasonable basis that vindicates this person's actions as something correct. that is what justification means. if you say "I can't justify this," you're saying that you can't find a just reason for that action.

i feel you confuse the idea of any excuse meaning the same thing.
and maybe you aren't alone in that.

"Right" and "reasonable" don't have static definitions for every situation, though. If something is "reasonable" for a crazy person to do, then it's justified, even if it's NOT "just." That's why things like mental state and emotions factor into crimes. That's why there's such a thing as a crime of passion. Killing somebody isn't just... But if it can be explained as an action brought about by severe emotion in the moment, then it is considered justified for that situation and it can change the charge. That doesn't make it morally right, but it does make it "reasonable" for the situation.

This is fairly common in law. If a crazy person kills somebody, but it's proven that they're crazy, then being crazy becomes the justification and not just an excuse, and that changes things... Even though it's not saying the killing itself was right or just.
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Seplito Nash, Smelling Like the Vault since 1996
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