‘Responsibility and Excuses’, in Banks McDowell, Ethics and Excuses: The Crisis in Professional Responsibility, Westport, CT: Quorum Books, pp. 13–25

Criminal law theorists also often distinguish justifications from excuses. See George P. Fletcher, RETHINKING CRIMINAL LAW (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1978), pp. 759-762. The practical reason for this distinction is that justi­ fied conduct would not allow the victim to act in self-defense whereas a mere ex­ cuse would. Although that problem can on occasion be a serious one for legal systems, it is not for ethical analysis. The distinction I am concerned with is the difference between those excuses that successfully avoid responsibility by an actor and those which do not.