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diminished responsibility

diminished responsibility In this historical usage, diminished responsibility refers to a state in which a person still knows the difference between right and wrong but, because of a psychopathic condition, is considered practically unable to choose or act according to the right.

In this historical usage, diminished responsibility refers to a state in which a person still knows the difference between right and wrong but, because of a psychopathic condition, is considered practically unable to choose or act according to the right. It was used in contrast to legal views that treated responsibility as absent only when that moral distinction could not be recognized at all.

Sources

Drafting source: Baldwin Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology, 1901. 1901 New York Macmillan original; archive index checked 2026-10-18. “Moral Insanity” (Moral Insanity).
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PsychTerms (psychterms.org), CC BY 4.0, version 1. “diminished responsibility.” Development preview.

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diminished responsibility

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Sources

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