THE THEORY APPLIED

Abstract

In this part, I show how the main doctrines of tort law reflect the theory of other-regarding behavior and how tort doctrine can be made more coherent if it is interpreted in light of that theory. I seek to do so in a way that leaves room for debate about the requirements of the other-regarding person, providing my own conclusions but suggesting a framework that allows others to advocate for an expanded or contracted scope of responsibility within that framework. Chapter Six addresses duty, providing an analytical framework for understanding the content of an actor's obligation to take into account the well-being of others and its limits, including the normative justification for no-duty rules. Chapter Seven shows that proximate cause cases are an important limitation on one person's responsibility for the well-being of others and that they combine with duty and breach to form a coherent and unified theory of responsibility. The chapter also explains the normative justification for the proximate cause limitation on responsibility and provides a single analytical lens for determining whether that limitation should be recognized. Chapter Eight takes up strict liability for abnormally dangerous activities, arguing that such liability ought to be absorbed within the negligence regime, showing that the cases in which liability has been justly imposed are all cases in which the defendant made an unreasonable decision about the location, timing, method, or frequency of an activity, and arguing that the negligence regime easily encompasses those cases.