Variations on a strawsonian theme there is a problem with strawson, namely that those who are outside the reach of personal relationships include not only small children and the insane, but also some who are deeply evil. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawson s most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and aesthetics. In a highly sympathetic discussion of freedom and resentment jonathan bennett has distanced himself, in this respect, from strawson s position. Bennett claims that strawson places too much emphasis on the claim that we could not possibly relinquish all reactive feelings. On his view, when we engage in interpersonal relationships with others, we open ourselves up to experiencing certain emotions. Strawsons freedom and resentment as suggesting a point about the order of explanation concerning moral responsibility.
I respond to a set of criticisms of the view by free will skeptics, compatibilists, and libertarians who. It is an extensive version of the logical and simplistic standard argument against free will. Peter strawsons paper, freedom and resentment did much to change the direction of the debate surrounding determinism. But 3 if there in no sense exists a king of france, the sentence is not about anything, and hence not about the king of prance. The strawsonian theory of moral responsibility the written word. The correct form for the bibliographic reference element of a citation for the selected resource is shown in a variety of the most widelyaccepted citation styles below. Philosophers give very different answers to these questions. Strawsons freedom and resentment, michael mckenna and paul russell freedom and resentment, p. Freedom and resentment and other essays by peter frederick. On the whole we continue to believe firmly both that we have free will and that we are truly morally. Strawson argues that instead of approaching the problem of. Justin coates university of chicago draft november 12, 2012 1. I argue that extant developments of the reversal face a dilemma.
This is a revised and updated edition of galen strawsons groundbreaking first book, where he argues that there is a fundamental sense in which there is no such thing as free will or true moral responsibility as this is ordinarily understood. Strawson always joked that he would turn to moral philosophy only when his powers were waning. Ayer accountability ii, jonathan bennett the importance of free will, susan wolf on freedom and resentment, galen strawson responsibility and the limits of. The philosophical debate about free will and responsibility has been of great importance throughout the history of philosophy. Introduction to philosophy richard holton free will iii. Therefore 4 since s is significant, there must in some sense in spme world exist or subsist the king of france. The npr correspondent commu nicates with her listening. In the end, he arrived at a kind of compatibilist or, as he says, optimist conclusion. Strawsons paper freedom and resentment really succeeds in undercutting the traditional debate about free will and suggests that the deepest source of our. Responsibility and moral psychology flashcards quizlet. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawson s most important work. It may be argued that harris, although not a member of the moral community according to watson, has or had the ability to become a member of the moral community but chose not to become one.
Strawson made a contribution to the free will versus determinism discussions by pointing out that whatever the deep metaphysical. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawsons most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and. Strawsons effort to refute or discredit the views of the pessimist. Strawson famously identified the reac tive attitudesresentment, indignation, gratitude and approvalas playing a key role in our practices of. Strawson 19192006 introduced an influential version of compatibilism grounded in human psychology. Strawson with the publication of his essay freedom and resentment has generated a wide range of discussion and criticism in the philosophical community.
He wrote most notably about the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and the history of philosophy, especially kant. Strawson argues that there are two different sorts of attitudes that we can take towards a person. Pdf freedom and resentment and other essays download. Review the full course description and key learning outcomes and create an account and enrol if you want a free statement of participation. View strawson and the reactive attitudes research papers on academia. Strawson s freedom and resentment we are naturally social beings. Strawsons purpose is to dissolve the so called problem of determinism and responsibility. The strawsonian theory of moral responsibility the. Im really proud to be able to contribute to this series the original posts and the comments so far have been just great. Strawson, freedom and resentment its the second case which strawson mentions and privilegeswhen we excuse someones behavior on the grounds of abnormality or lack of rational agencythat interests me. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawson s most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and. Click to open peter strawsons article freedom and resentment tip. Then you will be apt to feel, not just angry, but resentful towards them.
Miller arly in the secondperson standpoint, stephen darwall articulates a thesis that he takes p. Strawson s effort to refute or discredit the views of the pessimist. Strawson and pereboom 6 determinism are not compatible. Strawson is close to a group of thinkers who share a view that william james would have called hard determinism, including richard double, ted honderich, derk pereboom, saul. Sir peter strawson 19192006, univ newsletter, issue 23, page 4, hilary 2006. Resentment is personal and includes not one singular thing but a history. Others say, or imply, that they do know what it is. This will be the final weekly discussion post of our second series of weekly discussions. Galen john strawson is a british professor of philosopher and literary. Of these, somethe pessimists perhapshold that if the thesis is true, then the concepts of moral obligation and responsibility really have no. At the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers.
Actually, this is one of the most influential papers in the 20th century on the topic of free will, but many nonphilosophers who are deeply interested in free will dont know much about it. These are not the deep kantian categories, these are just things we knew all along. Some philosophers say they do not know what the thesis of determinism is. Strawson made a contribution to the free will versus determinism discussions by pointing out that whatever the deep metaphysical truth on these issues, people would not give up talking about and feeling moral responsibility, praise and blame, guilt and pride, crime and punishment, gratitude, resentment, and forgiveness. I argue that by attending to a distinction among perspectives on the root causes of our reactive attitudes, we can better understand the bases and limitations of longstanding debates about free will and moral responsibility.
Strawson s 1962 freedom and resentment has provoked a wide ride range of responses, both positive and negative, and an equally wide range of interpretations. A largely unquestioned assumption was that free will is required for moral. In freedom and resentment, strawson proposes a commonsense argument for compatibilism. Strawsons naturalist theory of free will and moral responsibility. How do strawsons labels of optimist and pessimist correspond to the labels introduced in the final two paragraphs of the last section. Strawson, as you will see, divides his paper into numbered sections. Strawson published a large number of influential articles, ranging over language, metaphysics, epistemology, and the history of philosophy, including a highly influential one entitled freedom and resentment, first published in the proceedings of the british academy in 1960, and collected here along with some of his. Strawson made a contribution to the free will versus determinism discussions by pointing out that whatever the deep metaphysical truth on these issues, people would not give up talking about and feeling moral responsibility, praise and blame, guilt and pride, crime and.
Introduction to philosophy richard holton free will. Strawsons theory on moral responsibility outlined in freedom and resentment, focuses on the fact that he associated moral responsibility with. Freedom and resentment, and other essays strawson, p. Accountability and the secondperson princeton university. He wrote very little about that, but his main contribution, freedom and resentment strawson 1960, is perhaps now his most famous and widely discussed paper. Strawson s argument in freedom and resentment date.
Moral responsibility stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawsons most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and aesthetics. Another thing i do not want to say is that in any given sentence there is never more than one expression used in the way i propose to discuss. See below for information about citations and references, and how to use them. Strawsons 1962 freedom and resentment has provoked a wide ride range of responses, both positive and negative, and an equally wide range of interpretations.
Strawson observed that people display emotions such as resentment, anger, gratitude, and so on in response to the actions of others. These are not the deep kantian categories, these are. This post will discuss strawsons theory of moral responsibility. His more explicit concern was to look again at the question of whether determinism and freedom are consistent with one another by shifting attention to certain personal rather than moral attitudes, first of all gratitude and resentment. By the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. On the contrary, it is obvious that there may be more than one. Free will skepticism or hard determinism is an incompatibilist position which states that determinism is true and therefore we have no free will, and thus no moral responsibility. Strawson, moral responsibility, and the order of explanation. In modern times this debate has received an enormous resurgence of interest and the contribution in 1962 by p. Strawsons theory of moral responsibility remains eminently influential. On the whole, we continue to believe firmly both that we have fre.
Freedom and resentment work by strawson britannica. Mckennas alteration to the strawsonian theory of moral responsibility now allows strawsons theory to respond to the challenge posed by watson. The debate is of central importance to recent developments in the free will literature and has shaped the way contemporary philosophers now approach the problem. Introduction although peter strawsons freedom and resentment was published 50. Peter frederick strawson stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. It will highlight how the theory has been challenged and then argue how the strawsonian theory is underdeveloped and not as coherent as it initially seems. For strawson, interpersonal relationships are so ingrained in our humanity and are so thoroughly important to us. In his unique style of argumentation on compatibilism vs. In a highly sympathetic discussion of freedom and resentment jonathan bennett has distanced himself, in this respect, from strawsons position. The doyen of living english philosophers, by these reflections, took hold of and changed the outlook of a good many other philosophers, if not. Strawson s famous, famous 1962 paper freedom and resentment. Peter strawson, clifford brown acumen publishing, 2006 free will and reactive attitudes.
Strawson and the reactive attitudes research papers. Jan 01, 1974 by the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. Blame is safe and healthy as it puts an active focus to circumstances and allows one to play with freedom, in the way ive already described. Strawson published his essay freedom and resentment, generating a wide range of discussion and criticism in the philosophical community and beyond.
They demand a deeper normative explanation for when it is appropriate to modify or mollify the reactive attitudes. Strawson 19192006, in his famous 1963 essay freedom and resentment offers an elaborate account of compatibilism vs. Free will and reactive attitudes free will and reactive. Strawson s descriptive metaphysics its scope and limits. Scanlon have called into question it explanatory basis, which grounds moral responsibility in human nature and interpersonal relationships. Strawson argues that appreciating the role of reactive attitudes in moral. Peter frederick strawson 19192006 was an oxfordbased philosopher whose career spanned the second half of the twentieth century. Freedom and resentment and other essays book summary. Freedom and belief paperback galen strawson oxford.
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