The Narrative of Moral Responsibility

Philosophical Analysis 31:123-149 (2014)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to suggest that theoretical thinking with respect to metaphysical determinations or indeterminations is not the appropriate realm for attributing moral responsibility. On the contrary, judgments that attribute moral responsibility (S is responsible for...) depend on the possibility that a rational narrative be built. Agents are capable of forging their future actions, as well as of reflecting upon past actions. With this it will also be shown how we assume control of our behavior because we ignore whether actions are the result of causality or chance. It is claimed that contexts determine the degree of causal demand in narratives that attribute moral responsibility. In order to construct this type of narrative one must focus on a specific link in the causal chain of explanations. If context alone is not demanding enough so as to require that theoretical reflections strive for the ultimate foundation of our actions, then the agent may be considered responsible for his behavior.

Links

PhilArchive

External links

  • This entry has no external links. Add one.
Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

An Analysis of Semi-Compatibilism.Gan Hun Ahn - 2008 - Proceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 15:7-12.
About the Needlessness of the Verb “To Be”.Dan Simbotin - 2008 - Proceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 15:231-236.
The Price of Frankfurt’s Compatibalism.Bindu Madhok - 2002 - Journal of Philosophical Research 27:577-584.
Moral responsibility and history revisited.Alfred R. Mele - 2008 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 12 (5):463 - 475.
A new approach to manipulation arguments.Patrick Todd - 2011 - Philosophical Studies 152 (1):127-133.
The Problem of Enhanced Control.Christopher Evan Franklin - 2011 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 89 (4):687 - 706.
Responsibility, Moral and Otherwise.Susan Wolf - 2015 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 58 (2):127-142.
Freedom with a Buddhist Face.Daniel Breyer - 2013 - Sophia 52 (2):359-379.
My way: essays on moral responsibility.John Martin Fischer - 2006 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Defending hard incompatibilism.Derk Pereboom - 2005 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 29 (1):228-247.
The Metaphysics of Moral Responsibility.Scott Alan Davison - 1993 - Dissertation, University of Notre Dame
Responsible Persons.Walter Peter Glannon - 1995 - Dissertation, Yale University

Analytics

Added to PP
2015-03-13

Downloads
552 (#29,692)

6 months
81 (#46,778)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Rodrigo Laera
Universitat de Barcelona

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Mortal questions.Thomas Nagel - 1979 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Freedom of the will and the concept of a person.Harry G. Frankfurt - 1971 - Journal of Philosophy 68 (1):5-20.
New work for a theory of universals.David K. Lewis - 1983 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 61 (4):343-377.
Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments.R. Jay Wallace - 1994 - Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility.Harry G. Frankfurt - 1969 - Journal of Philosophy 66 (23):829-839.

View all 31 references / Add more references