Wrongs, Remedies, and the Persistence of Reasons: Re-Examining the Continuity Thesis

The “continuity thesis” is one of Gardner’s signal contributions to tort theory. It holds that the reasons justifying one’s primary duties persist even after one breaches the duties they justify, reasserting themselves by grounding secondary duties of redress. The continuity thesis has been enormously influential but it also has attracted criticism. Perhaps the most widespread criticism-leveled in different ways by John Goldberg and Benjamin Zipursky, Stephen Smith, Victor Tadros, and Charlie Webb-alleges that the continuity thesis fails to take seriously the role that wrongdoing plays in the justification of secondary duties. Chapter 10 assesses those criticisms and attempts to turn them back, defending the continuity thesis.