Sanity and Irresponsibility

Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 3 (4):293-302 (1996)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Taking up the idea that sanity is a necessary condition for responsibility, Susan Wolf sets forth two criteria for determining whether an actor is sane. I argue that the second criterion is inappropriate for this determination since it invokes some hidden axiological standard. I reexamine a case study that Wolf describes and arrive at a different judgment about the responsibility of the actor. I argue that the foremost criterion for determining whether an actor is sane is functional rather than axiological. The theory of responsibility, rather than the notion of sanity, must do the work of appraising the value of an actors’ behavior, and that must be done in light of the fact that responsible moral agents enjoy varying degrees of sanity.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Commentary on "Sanity and Irresponsibility".Lloyd Fields - 1996 - Philosophy, Psychiatry, and Psychology 3 (4):303-304.
Science and sanity.Alfred Korzybski - 1941 - Lakeville, Conn.,: International Non-Aristotelian Library Pub. Co.; distributed by Institute of General Semantics.
Reducing Responsibility: An Evidentialist Account of Epistemic Blame.Trent Dougherty - 2010 - European Journal of Philosophy 20 (4):534-547.
Toward a General Theory of Responsibility and Irresponsibility.Duane Windsor - 2012 - Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 23:48-59.
Back to sanity.Y. G. Krishnamurti - 1945 - Bombay,: Basrur Bros. [pref..
Philosophical sanity.Kathleen Wallace - 1986 - Metaphilosophy 17 (1):14–25.
Society and Sanity. [REVIEW]Lewis Delmage - 1954 - Thought: Fordham University Quarterly 29 (2):306-307.
The sanity of Hamlet.Tenney L. Davis - 1921 - Journal of Philosophy 18 (23):629-634.

Analytics

Added to PP
2010-08-30

Downloads
32 (#431,738)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references