Abstract

Can one person wrong another through purely mental activity? There are some reasons to think so. For example, if A intentionally and non-compulsively fantasizes about raping B, it seems fitting for A to feel guilty over this with respect to B. And if B were to find out about the fantasizing, it seems they could fittingly resent A over it and demand an apology from them. Yet, the possibility of mental wronging seems ruled out by the basic and widely shared assumption that one person wrongs another only if they treat or affect them in some way. This presentation has two complementary aims. The first is to argue that the basic assumption does not in fact rule out the possibility of mental wronging. The second is to identify a sufficient ground for mental wronging: one person wrongs another through purely mental activity if the activity degrades this other person.