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Single Idea 20167

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

Full Idea

Blame rests, in part, on a fiction; the idea that ethical reasons, in particular the special kind of ethical reasons that are obligations, must, really, be available to the blamed agent.

Gist of Idea

Blame partly rests on the fiction that blamed agents always know their obligations

Source

Bernard Williams (How free does the will need to be? [1985], 5)

Book Ref

Williams,Bernard: 'Making Sense of Humanity: Papers 1982-1993' [CUP 1995], p.16

A Reaction

In blaming someone, you may be telling them that they should know their obligations, rather than assuming that they do know them. How else can we give children a moral education?

The 38 ideas with the same theme [when is a person morally responsible?]:

3026 Actions are influenced by circumstances, so Cyrenaics say felons should be reformed, not hated [Aristippus young, by Diog. Laertius]
22512 Acts are voluntary if done knowingly, by the agent, and in his power to avoid it [Aristotle]
7814 It was Epicurus who made the question of the will's freedom central to ethics [Epicurus, by Grayling]
525 Behave well when alone, and feel shame in you own eyes [Democritus (attr)]
20838 Fate initiates general causes, but individual wills and characters dictate what we do [Chrysippus]
21678 If desire is not in our power then neither are choices, so we should not be praised or punished [Cicero]
5770 Rewards and punishments are not deserved if they don't arise from free movement of the mind [Boethius]
1850 Without free will not only is ethical action meaningless, but also planning, commanding, praising and blaming [Aquinas]
7496 Rules and duties are based on the will, as that is all we control [Montaigne]
7569 Humans are moral, and capable of reward and punishment, because of memory and self-consciousness [Leibniz, by Jolley]
2225 If you deny all necessity and causation, then our character is not responsible for our crime [Hume]
2226 Repentance gets rid of guilt, which shows that responsibility arose from the criminal principles in the mind [Hume]
7235 Without freedom of will actions lack moral significance [Rousseau]
21378 We clearly feel responsible for our deeds, because we are quite certain that we did them [Schopenhauer]
7222 It is a crime for someone with a violent disposition to get drunk [Mill]
14807 The history of morality rests on an error called 'responsibility', which rests on an error called 'free will' [Nietzsche]
14824 It is absurd to blame nature and necessity; we should no more praise actions than we praise plants or artworks [Nietzsche]
14823 Ceasing to believe in human responsibility is bitter, if you had based the nobility of humanity on it [Nietzsche]
22473 Nietzsche said the will doesn't exist, so it can't ground moral responsibility [Nietzsche, by Foot]
2904 The doctrine of free will has been invented essentially in order to blame and punish people [Nietzsche]
4521 None of the ancients had the courage to deny morality by denying free will [Nietzsche]
20166 A man is a responsible agent to the extent he has an intention, and knows what he is doing [Hampshire]
22474 Unlike aesthetic evaluation, moral evaluation needs a concept of responsibility [Foot]
9270 A 'wanton' is not a person, because they lack second-order volitions [Frankfurt]
9269 A person may be morally responsible without free will [Frankfurt]
20168 Blame usually has no effect if the recipient thinks it unjustified [Williams,B]
20167 Blame partly rests on the fiction that blamed agents always know their obligations [Williams,B]
2178 In bad actions, guilt points towards victims, and shame to the agent [Williams,B]
6699 The chain of consequences may not be the same as the chain of responsibility [Graham]
23087 Much human evil is not autonomous, so moral responsibility need not be autonomous [Kekes]
23089 Evil people may not be autonomously aware, if they misjudge the situation [Kekes]
23093 Moral and causal responsibility are not clearly distinct [Kekes]
23094 Ought implies can means moral responsibility needs autonomy [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]
23098 Effects show the existence of moral responsibility, and mental states show the degree [Kekes]
20170 Responsibility is unprovoked foreseeable harm, against society, arising from vicious character [Kekes]
23557 To judge agents in remote times and cultures we need a moral resentment weaker than blame [Fricker,M]