Understanding and Blaming
Problems in the Attribution of Moral Responsibility
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10348078 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lawrence Vogel (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1993 |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 129-129 |
| Publication date | 1993-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8205 • E-ISSN: 1933-1592 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2108057 |
| OpenAlex | W2326991630 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
In her influential essay, 'Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility,' Susan Wolf appeals to the idea of insanity to explain why she would exonerate wrongdoers who are victims of deprived childhoods or who act in ways strongly encouraged by their societies like slaveowners in the 1850's, Nazis in 1930's Germany and male chauvinists in the 1950's.1 I shall challenge Wolf's application of the insanity defense to her examples, and recast them as cases of sane, responsible agents whom it may be difficult to blame on account of the causal history of their moral beliefs or motivations. I contend that Wolf's loose use of the insanity defense presents several dangers. It leads us to misunderstand the difficulties that victims of deprived childhoods may have conforming to moral norms and encourages a dismissive attitude towards cultures that are historically distant or alien from our own
Attribution · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Moral responsibility · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Torture, Ethics, and Law
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2015 (13) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |