Mistaken Defense and the Unbundling of Rights

When, and why, do people forfeit their rights not to be harmed? Standard theories struggle with “merely apparent attackers”—individuals who seem threatening but pose no real danger, like a futile attempter with a jammed gun or a bluffer with an unloaded weapon. This article develops a more fine-grained account of forfeiture, distinguishing the loss of rights themselves from the loss of their usual moral “perks,” such as the standing to complain or claim compensation. The result is a new framework for thinking about liability, self-defense, and the ethics of harm.