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Single Idea 20167

[catalogued under 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)

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?

Book Reference

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