tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1780806945960886534.post8366258695086036842..comments2024-03-28T05:47:54.177+00:00Comments on Philosophical Disquisitions: Waller's Argument Against Moral Responsibility (Part One)John Danaherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06761686258507859309noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1780806945960886534.post-62941337967090156892011-11-25T09:06:44.370+00:002011-11-25T09:06:44.370+00:00"(1) If one is to be responsible for how one ..."<i>(1) If one is to be responsible for how one acts at time Tn, one must be responsible for how one is at Tn.</i>"<br /><br />For myself, I don't see why anyone should accept the first premise of Strawson's argument. I expect that the notion of responsibility as applied to humans is of a piece with the notion of causal responsibility as applied to inanimate objects, and as the latter are not responsible for their own nature, we shouldn't expect psychological self-determination to be requisite for humans to be responsible at the moment of action.<br /><br />I do think that someone like Betty is <i>more</i> responsible for her actions, however, due to her reflective decision to overcome her fear of the basement. So, although humans can be responsible merely as material beings, or as unthinking animals, they are most responsible when they exercise their rationality (then, to echo the argument above, they are "truly" responsible).TaiChihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05130016615104653729noreply@blogger.com