Understanding Human Freedom, Nature of Accountability

(1)______ and (2)_______ are two closely related essential features of human personhood.

Human persons are (1)______ in making choices and performing actions, and are, consequently, (2)________ for these choices and actions

The _______ refers to our mental ability to make choices and do actions to carry out these choices. If humans are free in making choices and doing actions, it is because this, which enables them to make choices and do actions, is free.

saying that humans are_______ is just the same as saying that humans have free will.

Three Philosophical Views/Positions on the Possibility of Human Freedom.

- Believes that humans are not free.

This is the view that all events that happen in the world are caused by previous events or conditions along with the laws of nature.

It follows that if we know the relevant conditions for an event to occur and the natural laws governing its occurrence, we will be able to predict the occurrence of this event.

In the case of humans, the conditions that can determine their choices and actions include their genes, behavioural conditioning, and the physical and social conditions of their environment.

human choices and actions are in principle predictable.

no free will and no moral responsibility

accepts determinism, and further believes that determinism and freedom are incompatible—that they cannot both be true.

The incompatibility between determinism and freedom is explained by the view principle of _______

which states that actions done freely or choices made freely could have been otherwise

It accepts that while certain events in the world are caused and thus are determined, there are also some events that are not— referring precisely to human choices.

it is only the self or the mind of the human person that produces these free choices through the power of its will.

Free choices, are in a way determined, but not by the things or conditions outside of the self (which include previous events, natural laws, one’s biological make-up) but by the self through the power of its will alone.

is neutral to the truth of determinism as it defines freedom not in terms of the absence of determinism.

the actions of a human person are free not because they are not caused by previous events or conditions along with natural laws, but because the human person is not forced, compelled, or constrained to do actions to satisfy his/her own desires to carry out his/her own intentions.

Deservingness of blame or praise (punishment or reward) for the actions that we perform is a necessary consequence of our (1)______ and (2)_______.

enables us to distinguish between right and wrong actions, or between actions that we ought not to do.

enables us to choose the kind of action that we would like to perform, or to intentionally perform an action.

(punishment or reward) for the actions that we perform is a necessary consequence of our intelligence and freedom.

deserve _______ for choosing to perform an action we know to be wrong (or choosing an action we know to be right)

while we deserve _________ for choosing to perform an action we know to be right (or for choosing not to perform an action we know to be wrong).

We refer to the deservingness of blame and praise (punishment or reward) for the actions that we do as _______.

includes both blame and praise, for this is often associated only with blame.

Accountability can be of various types

results from the application of legal standards

results from the application of moral standards in assessing the rightness and wrongness of our actions.

a person is given punishments or penalties by the state for performing an illegal action

while he/she is given certain benefits or services by the state, such as police protection and free education, for not doing an illegal action.

a person is thought to deserve moral blame for performing an immoral act; while moral praise for performing a moral act.

as duty and as agency.

refers to the sense of “responsibility” in which being responsible means holding certain duties or obligations.

Parents, for instance, are responsible for their children in that they hold certain duties or obligations towards their children, which include providing for the physical, spiritual, and educational needs of their children, and disciplining them so that they grow up to become morally upright individuals and socially responsible citizens.

refers to the sense of “responsibility” in which being responsible means being the cause of something or being the one that brings about something. Causes can be humans or non-humans.

We can say that the criminal was responsible for (or the cause of) the death of the innocent bystander. We can also say that the strong wind was responsible for the broken glass window.

When we speak of human causes of certain actions, philosophers usually refer to these causes as______.

An agent who also deserves moral blame or praise for the action that he has performed is a

are entities who hold certain moral duties

are the targets of these moral duties and thus are entities hold moral rights.

Humans, who are rational and free, are the usual __________

include both humans and non-humans. _________ who are not rational and free include animals and humans whose capacity for rationality and freedom has severely and irreversibly damaged, and for some people, they may also include other non-human members of nature such as tress.

who are potentially rational and free include normal infants and children.

we are morally responsible for ______ is to say that we have moral duties towards them and that they are the objects of our actions for which we can be morally accountable.

Conditions for Accountability

That is, he or she has the intention of doing the action and he or she performs the action to carry out the intention.

knows or is capable of knowing that the action he or she is thinking of performing is right or wrong, or good or bad.

intentionality and knowledge—are usually referred to as

- The opposite of those two conditions (intentionality and knowledge) is
- which is the absence of the two incriminating conditions

it is the absence of intentionality wherein the action under consideration is not done intentionally, and the absence of the knowledge condition means that the action is done out of ignorance.

It must be noted that in the case of the two incriminating conditions, both conditions should occur to make one accountable for his or her actions.
True False

in the case of the two excusing conditions (ignorance and lack of intention), it is not sufficient that only one condition does occur to excuse one from accountability.
True False

if knowledge condition does not obtain then there cannot be any attribution of accountability.
True False

two kinds of ignorance:

It is the kind of ignorance where we can say to an ignorant person that he or she should have known better

A kind of ignorance where we cannot say to an ignorant person that he/she should have known better.

Degrees of Accountability

forces one to perform actions that one believes to be wrong.

1. the greater is the degree of difficulty or pressure, the lesser is the degree of accountability;
2. or the lesser the degree of difficulty or pressure, the greater is the degree of accountability.

that results from a wrongful action. Here,

1. the greater the degree of injury, the greater the degree of accountability; or
2. the lesser the degree of injury, the lesser is the degree of accountability.

in the case of a collective action.

1. The greater the degree of involvement, the greater the degree of accountability;

2. or the lesser is the degree of involvement, the lesser is the degree of accountability.

Here,

1. the more the knowledge one is about the wrongfulness of an action and relevant facts, the more accountable one is;
2. the lesser knowledgeable about the wrongfulness of an action and relevant facts, the lesser the accountable is.