Miller 1 freedom and resentment and consequentialism. Sir peter strawson was a professor at oxford from 1968 to 1987. On the whole we continue to believe firmly both that we have free will and that we are truly morally. He was the waynflete professor of metaphysical philosophy at the university of oxford magdalen college from 1968 to 1987.
Strawson 19192006, in his famous 1963 essay freedom and resentment. In modern times this debate has received an enormous resurgence of interest and the contribution in 1962 by p. 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. Introduction to philosophy richard holton free will iii. Peter frederick strawson 19192006 was an oxfordbased philosopher whose career spanned the second half of the twentieth century. Contemplation, perseverance, imagination, and free will. This post will discuss strawsons theory of moral responsibility. Benjamin kelsey under the direction of eddy nahmias abstract galen strawsons basic argument is an attempt to prove that no agent can meet the demands for true moral responsibility. See below for information about citations and references, and how to use them. To view the pdf, you must log in or become a member. Strawson observed that people display emotions such as resentment, anger, gratitude, and so on in. In the philosophical work on free will the three most important concepts are free will, moral responsibility.
Strawson 19192006, in his famous 1963 essay freedom and resentment offers an elaborate account of compatibilism vs. Strawson made a contribution to the free will versus determinism discussions by pointing out that whatever the deep metaphysical. 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. Then you will be apt to feel, not just angry, but resentful towards them. Galen john strawson born 1952 is a british analytic philosopher and literary critic who works primarily on philosophy of mind, metaphysics including free will, panpsychism, the mindbody problem, and the self, john locke, david hume, immanuel kant and friedrich nietzsche. Strawsons freedom and resentment, edited by michael mckenna and paul russell. If we ascribe a person the capability of making a free choice so that he could have acted differently, we would still entertain reactive attitudes, regardless of the truth. People are components, in most contexts, for example. Traditionally at least, a person is considered to be morally responsible for an action only if they did it of their own free will.
Strawson always joked that he would turn to moral philosophy only when his powers were waning. In particular, beginning with gary watson, some have. Apr 14, 2008 by the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. Galen strawson abstract i argue against two popular claims. Freedom and resentment 24 december 2007 david auerbach 0 comments let us consider, then, occasions for resentment. 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 1962 freedom and resentment has provoked a wide ride range of responses, both positive and negative, and an equally wide range of interpretations.
Peter frederick strawson stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. According to compatibilists, freedom is compatible with determinism because freedom is essentially just a matter of not being constrained or hindered in certain ways when one acts or chooses. He was elected a fellow of the british academy in 1960, became a foreign honorary member of the american academy of arts of sciences in 1971, and was an honorary fellow of st johns, university and magdalen colleges. Introduction to philosophy richard holton free will. Strawson, as you will see, divides his paper into numbered sections. Strawson makes an attempt to show that the concept of person is primitive or simple in the sense that it cannot be further analysed.
Strawsons freedom and resentment, michael mckenna and paul russell freedom and resentment, p. Click to open peter strawsons article freedom and resentment tip. Strawsons famous, famous 1962 paper freedom and resentment. Strawson s descriptive metaphysics its scope and limits. Strawson s basic assumption is that we have no choice but to employ the core. Peter strawsons paper, freedom and resentment did much to change the direction of the debate surrounding determinism. Descriptive metaphysics is content to describe the actual structure of our thought about the world strawson 1959, 9. In this essay i am analyzing two papers, freedom and. Mckennas alteration to the strawsonian theory of moral responsibility now allows strawsons theory to respond to the challenge posed by watson. However, as it is often the case in philosophy, a single subject can hardly ever be explored and understood in a vacuum.
Perhaps no paper on the topic of moral responsibility in the last sixty years has had more influenceor has been more widely discussedthan p. Peter strawson said he could make no sense of ideas like free will and determinism. Some philosophers say they do not know what the thesis of determinism is. Jan 01, 1974 by the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. Freedom and belief paperback galen strawson oxford.
Strawsons paper freedom and resentment really succeeds in undercutting the traditional debate about free will and suggests that the deepest source of our. Peter strawson s paper, freedom and resentment did much to change the direction of the debate surrounding determinism. This is because he has a reasonably small number of relatively discrete points to make, and the sections help the reader to see where the discussion. On his view, when we engage in interpersonal relationships with others, we open ourselves up to experiencing certain emotions. Strawsons basic assumption is that we have no choice but to employ the core. This paper examines some aspects of strawsons conception of descriptive metaphysics, as it is developed in individuals. Galen strawson, luck swallows everything, times literary supplement, june 26, 1998 i give you that interview because i know nothing about himbut i know about his argument, and about that web site, because i have argued with its owner over this issue, to the point where he had no valid argument to counter with. In his unique style of argumentation on compatibilism vs. Pdf version matches the latest version of this entry. Freedom and resentment and other essays 1st edition p. In freedom and resentment 1962, the british philosopher p. 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, moral responsibility, and the order of explanation.
He wrote most notably about the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and the history of philosophy, especially kant. Persons cannot be defined as a union of mind and body because the possession of mental properties as. And, in freedom and resentment, strawson shades toward suggesting that it is from the detached standpoint that we have the best appreciation of our reasons. According to the basic argument, it makes no difference whether determinism is true or false. Before that, he was appointed as a college lecturer at university college, oxford, in 1947, and became a tutorial. Other articles where freedom and resentment is discussed. What are the three kinds of reactive attitudes strawson has described by the end of v. 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. 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. Peter strawson, freedom and resentment 1974 by kristen. Strawson s freedom and resentment, michael mckenna and paul russell freedom and resentment, p. 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.
Strawsons method in freedom and resentment request pdf. Strawson with the publication of his essay freedom and resentment has generated a wide range of discussion and criticism in the philosophical community. Ayer accountability ii, jonathan bennett the importance of free will, susan wolf on freedom and resentment, galen strawson. Resentment is personal and includes not one singular thing but a history. 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. Fischer, john martin, early confucian texts diagnose the pervasiveness xtrawson reactive emotions under specific social conditions and respond with the ethicalpsychological mandate to counter them in selfcultivation. There is a massive central core of human thinking which has no history or none recorded in histories of thought. Descriptive metaphysics sets out to describe the actual structure of our thought about the world. Originally in proceedings of the british academy 1962.
Freedom is arbitrary and freedoms are often requested. Peter strawson, clifford brown acumen publishing, 2006 free will and reactive attitudes. In freedom and resentment, strawson proposes a commonsense argument for compatibilism. Freedom and responsibility strawsonsfocus is on moral responsibility. In this regard he was one with those englishspeaking philosophers who, following ludwig wittgenstein, thought such questions were pseudoproblems to be dissolved by careful attention to actual language use. Strawson s freedom and resentment, edited by michael mckenna and paul russell. 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. Galen strawson the impossibility of moral responsibility received 15 september 1993 i there is an argument, which i will call the basic argument, which appears to prove that we cannot be truly or ultimately morally respon sible for our actions. 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. Of these, somethe pessimists perhapshold that if the thesis is true, then the concepts of moral obligation and responsibility really have no. The whole argument is based on a group of central ppredicates which are otherascribable and self ascribable.
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. Ethics, politics, logic, philosophy of language, etc. Miller arly in the secondperson standpoint, stephen darwall articulates a thesis that he takes p. Strawsons purpose is to dissolve the so called problem of determinism and responsibility. 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. For strawson, interpersonal relationships are so ingrained in our humanity and are so thoroughly important to us. Sir peter strawson 19192006, univ newsletter, issue 23, page 4, hilary 2006. By the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. You can also read more about the friends of the sep society.
Sir peter strawson is one of the more interesting contemporaneous philosophers. Strawson s famous, famous 1962 paper freedom and resentment. Although peter strawson s freedom and resentment was published over fifty years ago and has been widely discussed, its main argument is still notoriously difficult to pin down. Strawson argues that there are two different sorts of attitudes that we can take towards a person. According to compatibilists, freedom is compatible with determinism because freedom is essentially just a matter of not being constrained or hindered in certain ways. Freedom and resentment work by strawson britannica. Strawsons theory on moral responsibility outlined in freedom and resentment, focuses on the fact that he associated moral responsibility with. This book is a collection of several essays and conferences. Peter strawson defends in freedom and resentment the view that even if determinism is true we would not change our reactive attitudes like resentment towards persons. He has been a consultant editor at the times literary supplement for. Descriptive metaphysics sets out to describe the actual structure of. Strawson published his essay freedom and resentment, generating a wide range of discussion and criticism in the philosophical community and beyond. Peter strawson freedom and resentment fischer, john martin and ravizza, mark, measuring beliefs about agency and responsibility. Bibliography includes bibliographical references p.
The philosophical debate about free will and responsibility has been of great importance throughout the history of philosophy. Strawson 19192006 introduced an influential version of compatibilism grounded in human psychology. The strawsonian theory of moral responsibility the written word. The strawsonian theory of moral responsibility the.