Is moral responsibility compatible with determinism?

Since determinism implies that agents could not have done otherwise once initial conditions and the laws of nature are held fixed, it follows that free will and moral responsibility are incompatible with determinism.

What is the relationship between determinism and moral responsibility?

Since moral responsibility seems to require free will, hard determinism implies that no one is morally responsible for his actions. Although the conclusion is strongly counterintuitive, some hard determinists have insisted that the weight of philosophical argument requires that it be accepted.

How does moral responsibility relate to free will?

without free will there is no moral responsibility: if moral responsibility exists, then someone is morally responsible for something he has done or for something he has left undone; to be morally responsible for some act or failure to act is at least to be able to have acted otherwise, whatever else it may involve; to ...

What is the moral principle of a determinist?

Determinism entails that, in a situation in which a person makes a certain decision or performs a certain action, it is impossible that he or she could have made any other decision or performed any other action. In other words, it is never true that people could have decided or acted otherwise than they actually did.

Why do Compatibilists think determinism does not remove moral responsibility?

Contemporary compatibilists such as Frankfurt and Strawson tend to argue that moral responsibility has little if anything to do with determinism, since it arises from people's desires and attitudes rather than from the causal origins of their actions.

Free will and moral responsibility Derk Pereboom

Do Compatibilists believe in determinism?

Compatibilism is the belief that free will and determinism are mutually compatible and that it is possible to believe in both without being logically inconsistent. Compatibilists believe that freedom can be present or absent in situations for reasons that have nothing to do with metaphysics.

What is moral responsibility?

Moral responsibility is about human action and its intentions and consequences (Fisher 1999, Eshleman 2016). Generally speaking a person or a group of people is morally responsible when their voluntary actions have morally significant outcomes that would make it appropriate to blame or praise them.

What is moral responsibility example?

For example, one may have a moral obligation to help a friend, to support a parent in old age, or to minimally respect another's autonomy as a moral agent. We can succeed in meeting, or fail to fulfil, our moral obligations.

How important is moral responsibility?

Making judgments about whether a person is morally responsible for her behavior, and holding others and ourselves responsible for actions and the consequences of actions, is a fundamental and familiar part of our moral practices and our interpersonal relationships.

How does Aristotle define moral responsibility?

According to Aristotle, moral responsibility is the notion that “it is sometimes appropriate to respond to an agent with praise or blame on the basis of her actions and/or dispositional traits of character” (Eshleman).

Does determinism promote free will?

Psychologists who take the free will view suggest that determinism removes freedom and dignity, and devalues human behavior. By creating general laws of behavior, deterministic psychology underestimates the uniqueness of human beings and their freedom to choose their own destiny.

What are the two determinants of moral responsibility?

two factors: 1) the causal relationship of the agent's act to the ensuing harm; and 2) the morality of the act itself without regard to consequences.

What is the opposite of determinism?

Determinism is a philosophical position which holds that every event is determined by natural laws. In this view, nothing can happen without an unbroken chain of causes that can be traced all the way back to the beginning of time and space. The opposite of determinism is sometimes called indeterminism.

Do you think there is an essential connection between the morality of an action and the morality of the intentions behind it?

Yes,there is a hot connection between morality and action. Almost every action is reflected from the respective moral background.

What is the role of determinism in moral responsibility and personal freedom?

Since determinism implies that agents could not have done otherwise once initial conditions and the laws of nature are held fixed, it follows that free will and moral responsibility are incompatible with determinism.

Does moral responsibility require options?

But joining the premises entails that action—and thus morally responsible action—requires alternatives. This approach to defending PAP will have to say something about apparent actions that do not involve alternatives.

What is social and moral responsibility?

The Crick Report states that the development of social and moral responsibility is a pre-requisite of citizenship, in respect of a required understanding of the consequences of one's actions and the impact of these actions on others.

Who is Aristotle in relation of moral responsibility?

Aristotle's view of moral responsibility is similar to Plato's in that it concentrates on the role of knowledge in taking the proper course of action. But Aristotle's account is much more powerful than Plato's, primarily due to the conceptual distinctions that Aristotle makes throughout his philosophical writings.

What is the difference between moral and causal responsibility?

The concept of moral responsibility applies quite broadly; in particular, we hold agents morally responsible both for their own acts and for outcomes. Causal responsibility, on the other hand, applies most fundamentally, if not exclu- sively, to outcomes.

Is freedom compatible with determinism?

Determinism is incompatible with free will and moral responsibility because determinism is incompatible with the ability to do otherwise.

Do Compatibilists deny determinism?

The compatibilist denies that the truth of determinism would have this drastic consequence. According to the compatibilist, the truth of determinism is compatible with the truth of our belief that we have free will.

Which statement below best captures the hard determinist's position on determinism and moral responsibility?

Which statement below best captures the hard determinist's position on determinism and moral responsibility? They are incompatible, and determinism is true.

Can determinism be real?

Determinism in nature has been shown, scientifically, to be false. There is no real debate about this among physicists. So the question as to whether determinism, if it really existed, would be compatible with free will is merely an academic question, an interesting bit of metaphysical speculation.

Is human behavior deterministic?

Behavior follows a determinist structure, both biologically and socially. On a larger temporal scale, every individual's actions are accounted for and even briefly foreseen. Every event represents a 'bottle-neck' event towards other events. These are all very determined events on a universal scale.