Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Law) - Hardcover

Fischer, John Martin; Ravizza, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521480558 ISBN 13: 9780521480550

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Synopsis

This book provides a comprehensive, systematic theory of moral responsibility. The authors explore the conditions under which individuals are morally responsible for actions, omissions, consequences, and emotions. The leading idea in the book is that moral responsibility is based on "guidance control." This control has two components: the mechanism that issues in the relevant behavior must be the agent's own mechanism, and it must be appropriately responsive to reasons. The book develops an account of both components. The authors go on to offer a sustained defense of the thesis that moral responsibility is compatible with causal determinism. This major study will interest moral philosophers, legal theorists, and those in religious studies concerned with the issue of moral responsibility.

About this title

Book Description:

This book provides a comprehensive, systematic theory of moral responsibility. Fischer and Ravizza explore the conditions under which individuals are morally responsible for actions, omissions, consequences, and emotions. The authors go on to offer a sustained defense of the thesis that moral responsibility is compatible with causal determinism. This major study will interest moral philosophers, legal theorists, and those in religious studies concerned with the issue of moral responsibility.

About the Author:

John Martin Fischer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, where he is a holder of a UC President's Chair. He is the author of "The Metaphysics of Free Will: An Essay on Control" (Blackwell 1994); "Responsibility and Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility" (with Mark Ravizza, 1998); and "My Way: Essays on Moral Responsibility" (2006). He has written extensively on free will, moral responsibility, the metaphysics of death, ethics, and the philosophy of religion.

Robert Kane is University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the The University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of "Free Will and Values" (1985), "Through the Moral Maze" (1994), "The Significance of Free Will" (1996), "A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will" (2005) and editor of "The Oxford Handbook of Free Will" (2002) and a collection of readings, "Free Will" (Blackwell, 2002). He is a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Texas at Austin.

Derk Pereboom is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Vermont, where he has been since 1985. He will join the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University in 2007. His book, "Living Without Free Will" (Cambridge University Press) appeared in 2001, and he has published articles on free will, philosophy of mind, history of modern philosophy, and philosophy of religion.

Manuel Vargas is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Francisco. He has published articles on a range of topics, including free will and moral responsibility, practical reason, evil, and Latin American philosophy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0521480558
• ISBN 13: 9780521480550
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 287