|
20166
|
A man is a responsible agent to the extent he has an intention, and knows what he is doing [Hampshire]
|
|
Full Idea:
A man becomes more and more a free and responsible agent the more he at all times knows what he is doing, in every sense of this phrase, and the more he acts with a definite and clearly formed intention.
|
|
From:
Stuart Hampshire (Thought and Responsibility [1960], p.178), quoted by John Kekes - The Human Condition 07.1
|
|
A reaction:
Kekes quote this (along with Frankfurt, Hart etc) as the 'received view' of responsibility, which he attacks.
|
|
5492
|
How can essences generate the right powers to vary with distance between objects? [Armstrong]
|
|
Full Idea:
In Newtonian physics the distance between two objects determines the attractive forces between them, but then the objects will have to be sensitive to the distance, in order to 'know' what forces to generate; but distance isn't a causal power.
|
|
From:
David M. Armstrong (Two Problems for Essentialism [2001], p.170)
|
|
A reaction:
Ellis replies that he is not troubled, because he believes in essential properties which are separate from their causal roles. Indeed, how else could you explain their causal roles? Still, distance must be mentioned when explaining gravity.
|