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22. Metaethics / A. Ethics Foundations / 1. Nature of Ethics / g. Moral responsibility

[when is a person morally responsible?]

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