more on this theme     |     more from this thinker     |     more from this text


Single Idea 4384

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

Full Idea

Aristotle seems to define responsibility negatively: I am responsible for an action if and only if I do it neither by force nor because of ignorance.

Gist of Idea

For Aristotle responsibility seems negative, in the absence of force or ignorance

Source

comment on Aristotle (Nicomachean Ethics [c.334 BCE], 1114b13) by Terence Irwin - Reason and Responsibility in Aristotle p.117

Book Ref

'Essays on Aristotle's Ethics', ed/tr. Rorty,Amélie Oksenberg [University of California 1980], p.117


A Reaction

Reminiscent of David Hume, suggesting that Aristotle may at heart be a determinist, because he lacks any positive notion of free will?