  Exceptions aside, the building blocks of our paradigm are each open to interpretation. Consider, for instance, the need for causation. Is the conclusion that \(D\) caused \(V\)’s death a matter of physical fact—something that is, in Hume’s well-known phrase, part of the cement of the universe? Or do the rules of causation—at least in criminal law—lie downstream of moral judgments about the fair attribution of responsibility? Does the truth, perhaps, lie somewhere in between? (Hart and Honoré 1959; Moore 2009b; Simester 2017). The criminal liability of many—as well as the punishments they face—turns on the answer we give to such questions.