{"id":{"repo_id":"cambridge","oai_identifier":"oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/386879"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cambridge/oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/386879","repository":{"repo_id":"cambridge","name":"Cambridge University","base_url":"https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Self-deception and Responsibility","abstract":"This thesis analyses the phenomenon of self-deception and explores the assessment of its consequences in moral responsibility and criminal culpability. It consists of three parts. Part I focuses on the phenomenon of self-deception and proposes a new model of the mind of the self-deceiver based on recent research in cognitive psychology. The central argument is that self-deception involves the person unconsciously reasoning in a biased way about new data conflicting with a resistant first belief about the self. This leads to the formation of the self-deceived false belief. Part II of the thesis looks at the moral responsibility of self-deceivers for harmful actions based on their self-deceived false beliefs. The central argument is that individuals can be held morally responsible for harms based on ignorance (including self-deceived false beliefs), even though their ignorance results from unconscious processes, if they are in a position of power relative to their victim in their situation and fail to meet the responsibility created by their position of power. Part III of the thesis explores culpability for inadvertent negligence in criminal law (including cases of self-deception). 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