Abstract
Among those who suffer loss, it is those we term victims for whom we reserve the greatest degree of social concern. But just when is someone a victim and when not? In current loose use of the term, almost anyone can be a “victim” of almost anything, the term being used more as a persuasive device for soliciting aid than as a descriptive. Because it would be worthwhile to know when the term is used descriptively and when only persuasively, I should like to discuss some conditions necessary for victimhood and to examine some putative instances of victimhood in order to distinguish victimhood from other forms of misfortune.
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References
Nozick, R. (1974). Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books.
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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Bayley, J.E. (1991). The Concept of Victimhood. In: Sank, D., Caplan, D.I. (eds) To Be a Victim. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5974-4_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5974-4_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-43962-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-5974-4
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