A drunk driver causes a car accident which leads to a death. In most cases, the applicable crime is involuntary manslaughter but law isn’t my subject today. Pam Stubbart of The Excluded Middle wonders about the seeming lack of mens rea in this kind of case. (via Philosophers’ Carnival #49). Since alcohol impairs one’s ability to reason, a drunk driver may lack the very ability to intend to kill. One obvious response is that the drunk drivers chooses to drink and is thus responsible for his subsequent actions. To this, Stubbart responds that (more…)