Philosophy

Please read book III of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (prefer Irwin's translation, published 1992) Background Aristotle presents an extremely plausible and highly influential theory of moral responsibility in Book III of the Nicomachean Ethics. It is a theory that has shaped, in fundamental ways, both our common sense views of responsibility and the way our legal system addresses questions of responsibility. Plausible as the theory is, Aristotle acknowledges, and tries to respond to, several arguments one might offer for thinking that people are not responsible for their actions. The most significant and troubling objection comes towards the end of his discussion at 1114b. The up-shot of the objection appears to be that people are never responsible for what they do. I think it is fair to say that most people think this cannot be right. They think that people are often responsible for what they do, even though they are pretty clearly not responsible for everything they do. The challenge facing this common view is to set out -- in an intelligible and justifiable way -- what the difference is between those things for which people are responsible and those for which they are not, and to do so in a way that makes sense of thinking people are sometimes responsible for some of their actions. This is a huge challenge, but coming to grips with the challenge is itself an important accomplishment. A crucial first step is figuring out what -- if anything -- one thinks is wrong with the argument for believing that people are never responsible for what they do. There are two main possibilities here. Either you think people are sometimes responsible for what they do, so there must be something wrong with the argument, or you think the argument works, and so think people are never responsible for what they do. (A third possibility is that you think the argument Aristotle considers does not work, but you think some other argument with the same conclusion does, so you think people are never responsible for what they do.) Many people discover themselves flipping back and forth on this question, sometimes being convinced by the argument, other times being sure it can not be right. Assignment Your essay assignment is to come to grips with the challenge raised at 1114b. So, in your essay, present (in as clear and careful a way as you can) Aristotle's theory of responsibility, being sure to relate it accurately to his theories of action and character acquisition. To do this well you will need to bring out explicitly what he seems to think people are responsible for and why he thinks they are responsible for those things (and what he thinks people are not responsible for and why). Against that background, or along the way, consider the objection at 1114b. In considering the objection, you should (i) present it as clearly and forcefully as you can, (ii) explain how Aristotle might best respond to the objection and (iii) make clear in the process what you think of the adequacy of the resulting view and why. You should, in doing these three things, relate what you say, as appropriate, to Aristotle's theories of action and character acquisition and more generally to the text. You are asked to consider an important challenge to the idea that people are ever morally responsible for their actions, not because it is clearly successful but because coming to understand it is crucial to understanding the nature of responsibility. In doing the assignment you will have to critically engage with the arguments in play. This is the key to, and one of the pleasures of, doing -- as opposed merely to reading or reporting -- philosophy. Structure your final essay so as to make clear early what your own view is, and then organize what follows so as to defend that view clearly and well. (As you know, an important part of offering a strong defense is to anticipate and respond to worries and objections that others might reasonably think tell against your position.) Please incorporate the following outline in the essay. =========== Set out Aristotle theory of responsibility 1. Voluntary vs not - Define and Examples 2. Nonvoluntary vs involuntary - Define and Examples 3. Virtues and vices - Define and Examples 4. Responsibility - Define and Examples 5. Force, ignorance - Define and Examples You're responsible for - What you do voluntary, or - If you voluntary cause the situation that produce it Possible objections: People don't always aim at the apparent good Authorities you can trust People are never responsible for what they do