Steward, H (2012) The Metaphysical Presuppositions of Moral Responsibility. The Journal of Ethics, 16 (2). 241 - 271 . ISSN 1382-4554
Abstract
The paper attempts to explicate and justify the position I call 'Agency Incompatibilism'- that is to say, the view that agency itself is incompatible with determinism. The most important part of this task is the characterisation of the conception of agency on which the position depends; for unless this is understood, the rationale for the position is likely to be missed. The paper accordingly proceeds by setting out the orthodox philosophical position concerning what it takes for agency to exist, before going on to explain why and how that orthodoxy should be challenged. The relations between my own views and those of others writing on the issues of free will and moral responsibility, in three crucial and inter-connected areas are then explored. These are (1) the question how animals should figure in the philosophy of action; (2) the question what the lesson is of 'Frankfurt-style' examples; and (3) the distinction between so-called 'leeway' incompatibilism and 'source' incompatibilism. The paper moves on to consider and respond to various objections to Agency Incompatibilism, including the claim that to embrace the conception of agency that makes incompatibilism plausible is to beg the question against the compatibilist, and also the worry that determinism is an empirical thesis which ought not to be straightforwardly falsifiable by such a priori reasoning as Agency Incompatibilism appears to involve. I also try to rebut the worry that Agency Incompatibilism is committed to the existence of an unintelligible and/or naturalistically impossible variety of irreducible agent causation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2012, Springer Verlag. This is an author produced version of a paper published in The Journal of Ethics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. The final publication is available at link.springer.com. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) > Division of the History and Philosophy of Science (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Jun 2013 14:24 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 21:33 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10892-012-9127-5 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10892-012-9127-5 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:75696 |