Free Will

• Aristotle 


  only 'voluntary actions' qualify for praise/blame
• 1. To be morally responsible, people must act through their own free will 


  Must be shown that people concerned are able to make that choice
• Free Moral Agent 


  someone with free will
• Machines are incapable of independent thought so cannot blamed and the same is true of animals - a lion is not morally responsible for killing a young wildebeest
• 2. Moral agent must be conscious and capable of making that decision 


  e.g if a person driving has a heart attack and kills a pedestrian - not morally responsible HOWEVER if they warned by a doctor ?
• 3. A person should be to distinguish right from wrong 


  • Babies and children are not regarded as being able to take legal or moral responsibility for their actions
  • Those suffering from mental illness e.g dementia
  • Under extreme pressure - moments of anger cannot think rationally
• Knowledge of good - 4 exemptions

  1. Not yet learned
  2. cannot understand it
  3. permanently forgotten it
  4. temporarily forgotten it
• Where do we get our morality from?

  • Religion: the innate, social and religious
  • Upbringing/culture (social): e/g arranged marriages
  • Born with an innate sense: David Hume's approach - a built in 'moral sense' e/g we feel it is right to go to the aid of someone in need