Module description
Imputing responsibility to someone for something requires more than just viewing that thing as theirs, or somehow connected to them. But what more does it require? A familiar answer is that we are responsible only for things we (at least partly) control. Traditionally that notion of control has been seen as a condition for responsibility and, in cases of wrongdoing, liability or ‘blameworthiness’. The module explores the connection between agency, responsibility and blame, examining related questions such as blameworthiness, the possibility of exculpation, and forgiveness.
Assessment details
- Summative assessment: 1 x 3,500-word essay (100%)
- Formative assessment: 1 x 2,500-3000 word essay
Students are reassessed in the failed elements of assessment and by the same methods as the first attempt.
Educational aims & objectives
The module will introduce students to the central questions about agency, responsibility, blame and forgiveness. It will investigate the connection between agency and control; control and moral blameworthiness, and a raft of questions about blame, exculpation and forgiveness.
Learning outcomes
Students will gain a better understanding of the notions of agency, control and responsibility and how they have been analysed by various philosophers, including their relation to blame, exculpation and forgiveness.
Teaching pattern
One one-hour weekly lecture and one one-hour weekly seminar, over ten weeks.
Suggested reading list
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Duff, R.A. (2009) Answering for Crime, Chapter 3. “Responsible for What?”
Smith, A. (2005) ‘Responsibility for Attitudes: Activity and Passivity in Mental Life’, Ethics 115 (2): 236–271.
Clarke, R (2022) ‘Still Guilty’, Philosophical Studies, 179: 2579-2596.
Allais, Lucy, 2008, ‘Wiping the Slate Clean: The Heart of Forgiveness’, Philosophy and Public Affairs, 36(1): 33–68. doi:10.1111/j.1088-4963.2008.00123.x
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