Ignorance and moral responsibility /
"This book investigates the relation between ignorance and moral responsibility. It opens with the presentation of a case in which a tragedy occurs, one to which many people have unwittingly contributed, and addresses the question of whether their ignorance absolves them of blame for what happe...
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Oxford :
Oxford University Press,
2022.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | "This book investigates the relation between ignorance and moral responsibility. It opens with the presentation of a case in which a tragedy occurs, one to which many people have unwittingly contributed, and addresses the question of whether their ignorance absolves them of blame for what happened. Inspection of the case issues in the Argument from Ignorance, whose conclusion is that, to be blameworthy for one's behavior and its consequences, one must at some time in the history of that behavior have known that one was engaged in wrongdoing—a thesis that threatens to undermine many everyday ascriptions of responsibility. This argument is examined and refined in ensuing chapters by way of, first, a detailed inquiry into the nature of moral responsibility, ignorance, and control, all of which play a crucial role in the argument, and then an application of the fruits of this investigation to the question of whether and how someone might be to blame for behavior that stems from either culpable ignorance, negligence, recklessness, or the kind of fundamental moral ignorance that often characterizes evildoers. The Argument from Ignorance implies that in a great many such cases the agent has an excuse for the wrongdoing in question. This is a disturbing verdict, and in the final chapter challenges to the argument are entertained. Despite the merits of some of these challenges, it is held that the argument, revised one last time, survives them"--Publisher's description. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xvi, 375 pages) |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780192675675 0192675672 9780191949937 0191949930 0192675664 9780192675668 |