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Single Idea 22374

[filed under theme 20. Action / C. Motives for Action / 4. Responsibility for Actions ]

Full Idea

Where actions proceed not from some cause in the characters and dispositions of the person who performed them, they infix not themselves upon him, and can neither redound to his honour if good, nor infamy if evil. The action in itself may be blameable.

Gist of Idea

You can only hold people responsible for actions which arise out of their character

Source

David Hume (Treatise of Human Nature [1739], II.III.2), quoted by Philippa Foot - Free Will as Involving Determinism p.70

Book Ref

Foot,Philippa: 'Virtues and Vices' [Blackwell 1981], p.70

A Reaction

I agree with Foot that this is wrong. Uncharacteristic actions still reflect on the person. The last sentence is wrong too. If you ignore the agent of an action, it can't be distinguished from a flash of lightning.

The 30 ideas with the same theme [whether motives were sufficiently good]:

5213 If you repent of an act done through ignorance, you acted involuntarily, not non-voluntarily [Aristotle]
4384 For Aristotle responsibility seems negative, in the absence of force or ignorance [Irwin on Aristotle]
22507 An action is voluntary when it is accompanied by thought of some kind [Aristotle]
23319 We are responsible if our actions reflect our motivation [Aristotle, by Frede,M]
14061 Our own choices are autonomous, and the basis for praise and blame [Epicurus]
23305 Stoics said responsibility depends on rationality [Stoic school, by Sorabji]
23325 Epictetus developed a notion of will as the source of our responsibility [Epictetus, by Frede,M]
5009 We do not praise the acts of an efficient automaton, as their acts are necessary [Descartes]
5008 The greatest perfection of man is to act by free will, and thus merit praise or blame [Descartes]
17202 We are the source of an action if only our nature can explain the action [Spinoza]
21865 We act when it follows from our nature, and is understood in that way [Spinoza]
21868 We love or hate people more strongly because we think they are free [Spinoza]
2224 Praise and blame can only be given if an action proceeds from a person's character and disposition [Hume]
22374 You can only hold people responsible for actions which arise out of their character [Hume]
20251 Actions done for a purpose are least understood, because we complacently think it's obvious [Nietzsche]
24127 Judging actions by intentions - like judging painters by their thoughts! [Nietzsche]
22500 Nietzsche failed to see that moral actions can be voluntary without free will [Foot on Nietzsche]
20324 My freedom increases as I broaden my vision of possiblities and motives [Jaspers]
23071 We could only be responsible if we had consented before birth to who we are [Cioran]
3442 Responsibility seems to conflict with events being either caused or not caused [Chisholm]
3443 Desires may rule us, but are we responsible for our desires? [Chisholm]
2174 Responsibility involves cause, intention, state of mind, and response after the event [Williams,B]
23590 Criminal responsibility can be fully assigned to each member of a group [Walzer]
23086 Liberals say we are only responsible for fully autonomous actions [Kekes]
23100 Collective responsibility conflicts with responsibility's requirement of authonomy [Kekes]
7096 We may still admire a person's character even if the traits are involuntary [Statman]
6663 People's actions are explained either by their motives, or their reasons, or the causes [Lowe]
20048 There may be a justification relative to a person's view, and yet no absolute justification [Stout,R]
20053 An action is only yours if you produce it, rather than some state or event within you [Stout,R]
23616 Legal excuses are duress, ignorance, and diminished responsibility [McMahan]