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Single Idea 23089

[filed under theme 22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / g. Moral responsibility ]

Full Idea

Agents who perform evil nonautonomously do not know what they are doing, because they have made a mistake in understanding or evaluating their own conduct.

Gist of Idea

Evil people may not be autonomously aware, if they misjudge the situation

Source

John Kekes (Against Liberalism [1997], 02.4)

Book Ref

Kekes,John: 'Against Liberalism' [Cornell 1997], p.33

A Reaction

So while liberals say that true evil must be autonomous, Kekes says it may result from factual or evaluative error, for which people are also responsible.

Related Idea

Idea 23087 Much human evil is not autonomous, so moral responsibility need not be autonomous [Kekes]

The 38 ideas from 'Against Liberalism'

23079 Liberal justice ignores desert, which is the essence of justice [Kekes]
23083 Liberal welfare focuses on need rather than desert [Kekes]
23081 Liberal basics are pluralism, freedom, rights, equality, and distributive justice - for autonomy [Kekes]
23082 Liberal distribution cares more about recipients than donors [Kekes]
23084 Are egalitarians too coercive, or not egalitarian enough, or lax over morality? [Kekes]
23085 The key liberal values are explained by the one core value, which is autonomy [Kekes]
23086 Liberals say we are only responsible for fully autonomous actions [Kekes]
23087 Much human evil is not autonomous, so moral responsibility need not be autonomous [Kekes]
23088 Evil is not deviation from the good, any more than good is a deviation from evil [Kekes]
23089 Evil people may not be autonomously aware, if they misjudge the situation [Kekes]
23090 Liberals assume people are naturally free, equal, rational, and morally good [Kekes]
23091 Why do liberals not see a much wider range of values as basic? [Kekes]
23092 Agents have little control over the capacities needed for liberal autonomy [Kekes]
23093 Moral and causal responsibility are not clearly distinct [Kekes]
23096 Morality should aim to prevent all evil actions, not just autonomous ones [Kekes]
23095 Why should moral responsibility depend on autonomy, rather than social role or experience? [Kekes]
23094 Ought implies can means moral responsibility needs autonomy [Kekes]
23097 What matters for morality is the effects of action, not the psychological causes [Kekes]
23099 It is said that if an agent is not autonomous then their evil actions don't reflect on their character [Kekes]
23098 Effects show the existence of moral responsibility, and mental states show the degree [Kekes]
23100 Collective responsibility conflicts with responsibility's requirement of authonomy [Kekes]
23101 Intuitions don't prove things; they just receptivity to interpretations [Kekes]
23102 Liberals are egalitarians, but in varying degrees [Kekes]
23103 Power is meant to be confined to representatives, and subsequent delegation [Kekes]
23105 It is not deplorable that billionaires have more than millionaires [Kekes]
23106 To rectify the undeserved equality, we should give men longer and women shorter lives [Kekes]
23108 Justice combines consistency and desert; treat likes alike, judging likeness by desert [Kekes]
23107 Prosperity is a higher social virtue than justice [Kekes]
23109 The veil of ignorance is only needed because people have bad motivations [Kekes]
23112 Liberals ignore contingency, and think people are good and equal, and institutions cause evil [Kekes]
23113 Sexual morality doesn't require monogamy, but it needs a group of sensible regulations [Kekes]
23114 The chief function of the state is to arbitrate between contending visions of the good life [Kekes]
23116 Citizenship is easier than parenthood [Kekes]
23118 Awareness of others' suffering doesn't create an obligation to help [Kekes]
23117 Love should be partial, and discriminate in favour of its object [Kekes]
23119 Sentimental love distorts its object [Kekes]
23120 The problem is basic insufficiency of resources, not their inequality [Kekes]
23121 It is just a fact that some people are morally better than others [Kekes]