conditions of moral responsibilities

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

• two excuses you can give if you’re accused of something wrong are you couldn’t help it/forced to do it & didn’t understand it was wrong to do it
• aristotle made crucial point that only voluntary actions qualify for praise (nichomacean ethics)
• if you’re forced to do something with no option then you shouldn’t be held morally responsible
• this means for ethics it’s important to consider both of these two features that enable an action to be judged morally right or wrong

Question 2

free will

Answer 2

• know someone is morally responsible is act through own free will
• means we have to exclude the possibility of being brainwashed as what they thought was free will was forced on them
• we need free human agency for moral responsibility
• may not have control over their actions as result of upbringing & social pressure
• conscious & capable of making the decision must be taken into account for moral responsibility as if unconscious you aren’t in a position to choose
• if someone had a fatal heart attack whilst driving that caused death of another the person wouldn’t be responsible as were dead
• but could’ve been morally at fault if they had been previously warned about danger by a doctor

Question 3

understanding difference between right & wrong

Answer 3

• to be able to distinguish between right & wrong you have to have lived long enough to acquire some moral discretion so there are 3 groups of people who can’t meet this:
  -BABIES/YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SEVERE LEARNING DIFFICULTIES
  
  • THOSE WITH DEMENTIA/OTHER MENTAL ILLNESSES
  • UNDER EXTREME PRESSURE- may not be able to think normally but depends on if you put yourself in this position (e.g drinking in which you wouldn’t be exempt)

Question 4

sources of moral awareness in right and wrong - innate

Answer 4

• wxample, generally feel it right to go to the aid of someone in need
• basis of hume’s approach to morality that we have abuilt-in moral sense of right from wrong

Question 5

sources of moral awareness in right and wrong - social context

Answer 5

• we learn them from our parents & others in society as we grow up & those moral principles form basis of our social life where morality is linked to particular cultural & social traditions
• things like arranged marriage, FGM are seen as right by some but wrong by others