A logical study of moral responsibility

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Abstract

This paper proposes a logical framework for studying the structure of moral responsibility for outcomes. The analysis incorporates two vital features: an agency condition and a negative condition of an alternative possibility. The logical language allows us to identify and disambiguate seven plausible criteria for moral responsibility. To accommodate interdependent decision contexts, the semantics are given in terms of so-called responsibility games. The logical framework enables us to classify the logical relations between these seven criteria for moral responsibility. Although all seven criteria are logically distinct, I also identify circumstances where the seven criteria locally reduce to only three.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to) 999–1040
JournalErkenntnis
Volume90
Early online date4 Sept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2025
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Funding

I gratefully acknowledge funding from the European Research Council (the ERC-2013-CoG project REINS, no. 616512, and the ERC-2017-CoG project SEA, no. 771074).

FundersFunder number
ERC-2017-CoG
European Commission
European Research Council616512
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme771074

    Keywords

    • Agency condition
    • Alternative possibilities
    • Game theory
    • Logic
    • Moral responsibility

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