Handlung, Vorsatz, Schuld. Karl Ludwig Michelet als Interpret der Hegelschen Handlungstheorie

In this paper we will present the dissertation of Karl Ludwig Michelet (1824) on the concepts of dolus and culpa, which represents a re-elaborated version of some difficult passages of Hegel’s Morality chapter of the Elements of the Philosophy of Right, integrated and explicated through Aristotle’s ethics and legal concepts. This work has never been done up to now, although it is worth doing. We will in particular focus on chapter one and chapter two of Michelet’s dissertation, which deal with the conditions of imputation of actions and with the legal concepts of dolus and culpa. Since Michelet developed some of the issues of his dissertation in his later book System der philosophischen Moral (1828), in particular the first chapter of this book, dealing with imputation of actions, cannot be overlooked. It will be finally possible to compare Michelet’s two works together with Hegel’s text: Michelet’s constant and explicit reference to Aristotle’s ethics will become clear and it will prove to be fruitful even in the understanding of the concepts of dolus and culpa. Particular attention will be given to Michelet’s understanding of the dolus indirectus.