Abstract

The central focus of the dissertation is the question of the continuity of moral guilt over time. I examine whether there exist conditions under which a person's culpability for a transgression may diminish in degree or be eliminated altogether at times after the action . Through an analysis of theories of personal identity and moral responsibility I develop the thesis that culpability is indeed subject to diminution and elimination over time, and that acknowledgement of this fact has important consequences in connection with the justification of punishment