Abstract

The present work deals with the problem that negligence poses for the relationship between agency and responsibility, that is, it is not possible to establish a sharp connection between the agent’s guilty mind and the wrongful situation. A critical examination of the various strategies that attempt to deal with this problem is presented, and an ascriptivist conception of action and responsibility, as well as the distinction between conduct rules and imputation rules, is developed to address the problem. As a result, a complex theory of agency is defended, the distinction between tracing and non-tracing cases is supported, and it is proposed to understand the latter under the social and normative aspects of agency.