description: R. Jay Wallace advances a powerful and sustained argument against the common view that accountability requires freedom of will. Instead, he maintains, the fairness of holding people responsible depends on their rational competence: the power to grasp moral reasons and to control their behavior accordingly. He shows how these forms of rational competence are compatible with determinism. At the same time, giving serious consideration to incompatibilist concerns, Wallace develops a compelling diagnosis of the common assumption that freedom is necessary for responsibility.
language: English
title: Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments
titlecomplete: Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments
genres: Philosophy
ratings_count: 23
publisher: Harvard University Press