The Mysterious Case of the Reasonable Person
This chapter focuses on the ‘reasonable person’, that ‘excellent but odious character’ who seems to inhabit every nook and cranny of the common law. According to Ripstein, the reasonable person embodies not just a justificatory standard but a particular justificatory standard. But what exactly is particular about the justificatory standard that he/she embodies? The chapter sketches six possible solutions to the mystery, which enjoy varying degrees of support in Ripstein’s text. They are by no means mutually exclusive. But how combining them would mitigate, as opposed to compounding, their several difficulties remains unclear.