Premium
The Physiognomy of Responsibility
Author(s) -
FISCHER JOHN MARTIN,
TOGNAZZINI NEAL A.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
philosophy and phenomenological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1933-1592
pISSN - 0031-8205
DOI - 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2010.00458.x
Subject(s) - virtue , foreknowledge , citation , blame , moral responsibility , philosophy , agency (philosophy) , argument (complex analysis) , sociology , law , theology , epistemology , political science , psychology , biochemistry , chemistry , psychiatry
Our aim in this paper is to put the concept of moral responsibility under a microscope. At the lowest level of magnification, it appears unified. But Gary Watson has taught us that if we zoom in, we will find that moral responsibility has two faces: attributability and accountability. It is one thing to talk about the connection the agent has with her action; it is quite another to talk about the potential interaction the agent might have with her moral community. It turns out, though, that the faces of moral responsibility can themselves be viewed under an even higher level of magnification. If moral responsibility has two faces, then our aim in this paper is to examine their features. To do so reveals subtle distinctions in our concept of moral responsibility and its interaction with surrounding issues that, we argue, can help illuminate various debates in the literature.