Mens Rea, Intentionality and Wittgenstein’s Philosophy of Psychology

Abstract

The paper seeks to apply Wittgenstein’s philosophy of psychology – taken to represent a middle path between Cartesian dualism and radical behaviourism – to the concept of mens rea in international criminal law. It is suggested that to grasp the concept correctly, we must get rid of the commonplace assumption regarding the so-called private character of our intentions, according to which only an individual whose intention it is can really know what they are intending, while knowledge of other people, such as judges or court witnesses, is in this respect only mediate.

Keywords: International law, Criminal law, Mens rea, Intention, Wittgenstein