Abstract

Two classifications of damages figure in Aristotle’s works – one in the Rhetoric and the other in the Nicomachean Ethics – which establish different degrees of culpability, according to the agent’s attitude at the time of the action. They also show Aristotle’s interest in the application of his ethical notions, i.e. voluntariness and moral responsibility, in the legal field. However, although the two accounts share some features, they also show some remarkable differences; I will hence aim to show that the Nicomachean Ethics actually offer a more refined and complete account than the one in the Rhetoric.