Ebook: Manipulated Agents: A Window To Moral Responsibility

"Common sense tells us that all people who perform intentional actions are influenced by things they have done and things that have happened to them. If someone is a superb deliberator or remarkably courageous, we might like to know how he came to be that way, if only because that knowledge about his past might suggest measures we might take to make ourselves better deliberators or more courageous. To what extent does an agent's history help us figure out whether or not he is responsible for an action in question? What period of time do we need to look at to grasp all the factors that will influence the person in question's action or choice? In answering questions such as this in the literature on moral responsibility and free will, philosophers often make heavy use of thought experiments to make their points. These experiments feature manipulated agents -- agents who are clearly influenced by certain forces or conditions, and therefore not entirely free. What can we learn from vignettes of this kind about the nature of moral responsibility for actions? Mele seeks to answer this very consequential, if specific question in this book. Small though this question may seem, answering it can unlock a full-blown understanding of moral responsibility, as Mele shows here"--  Read more...