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Aristotle on voluntary action, choice and moral responsibility Aristotle on voluntary action, choice and moral responsibility

Aristotle on voluntary action, choice and moral responsibility - PowerPoint Presentation

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Aristotle on voluntary action, choice and moral responsibility - PPT Presentation

Michael Lacewing enquiriesalevelphilosophycouk c Michael Lacewing Voluntary and involuntary actions In voluntary actions we know what we are doing and we bring it about ourselves Force and ignorance render actions involuntary ID: 929101

voluntary bad ignorance actions bad voluntary actions ignorance michael lacewing good action act people acting voluntarily responsible desire ends

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Slide1

Aristotle on voluntary action, choice and moral responsibility

Michael Lacewingenquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide2

Voluntary and involuntary actions

In voluntary actions, we know what we are doing and we bring it about ourselvesForce and ignorance render actions involuntary3 cases of stepping on someone’s foot

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide3

Force

Physical force and psychological pressureDon’t blame someone where psychological pressure is very strongWhen we act involuntarily, we do so with pain and regret

What of sailors throwing goods overboard in a storm?

This is voluntary, in that it is chosen to avoid a greater evil

And we praise them for their choice – praise and blame attaches only to voluntary action

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide4

Ignorance

Whether an action done from ignorance is involuntary or ‘not voluntary’ depends on regretStepping on someone’s foot (caring, not caring)

Involuntary action from ignorance involves ignorance of the particular circumstances of action

What you are actually doing, its consequences, your manner of acting…

Acting in ignorance ≠ acting from ignorance

Acting from ignorance is not voluntary; acting in ignorance counts as voluntary

E.g. acting when drunk or in a rage – it is these conditions, not ignorance, that bring about the action

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide5

Voluntary action

Again: In voluntary actions, we know what we are doing and we bring it about ourselvesActions done from desire or emotion are still voluntary

If not, then neither children nor animals ever act voluntarily

Many good actions, that we ought to do, are done from desire or emotion

Involuntary actions are painful, many actions done from desire are pleasant

Our desires and emotions are part of us –

we

act from them

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide6

What is choice?

Everything we choose to do is voluntary, but not everything voluntary is chosen

E.g. the actions of children

Choice is what we decide upon as a result of deliberation

Deliberation is reasoning about what we can change

Esp. where we need to act not from habit but differently on different occasions

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide7

Deliberating about ends

Do we deliberate about means only, or also ends?I might deliberate about whether it is worth the effort to get good gradesI might deliberate about which end to pursue when two ends conflict

Aristotle: we don’t deliberate about ends

as ends

, i.e. we always have some end in view

Getting good grades as a means to an end

Which end to pursue as part of the good life

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide8

Are bad actions voluntary?

Do people who are bad do bad things voluntarily and by choice?Socrates: No -

Everyone aims at what they believe is good

and doing something bad is acting from ignorance

Aristotle: it involves ignorance, but is still voluntary

To know (fully)

what the right act is involves understanding

why

it is right

Bad people desire what is not truly desirable, but they are ignorant of this fact,

Something bad can seem desirable if we think it is pleasant

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide9

Bad people act voluntarily

What it is in our power to do, it is in our power not to do. So we can choose to do either good or bad actions. So bad actions are voluntary.

We encourage people not to do bad actions, yet we don’t encourage people not to do things that are out of their power.

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide10

Moral responsibility

Obj: Bad people act voluntarily, but are not morally responsible, because they do not know that what they desire is not desirableReply:

Bad people became bad as a result of their choices. Therefore, they are responsible for becoming bad, and thus becoming ignorant of what is good.

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide11

Moral responsibility

We acquire a particular state of character by acting in a corresponding way.L

ike becoming drunk and then not knowing what you are doing; or becoming ill through ignoring medical advice; we are responsible for becoming bad through the choices we made.

Bad action is done

in

ignorance, not

from

ignorance

(c) Michael Lacewing

Slide12

Moral responsibility

If the bad person is not responsible for their bad actions, and these are not done voluntarily, then the good person is not responsible for their good actions, and these are not done voluntarily

.

A

ctions and character traits are not voluntary in the same way.

Voluntary actions are under our control from start to finish. Character traits are only under our control at the beginning.

(c) Michael Lacewing