Empathetic Blame: Moral Evaluation in the Face of Luck

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dc.contributor.advisorSher, George
dc.creatorTugendstein, Gabriel
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-14T20:29:02Z
dc.date.available2020-05-14T20:29:02Z
dc.date.issued2020-05
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis I offer a new interpretation of blame and criticism rooted in P.F. Strawson's distinction between the subjective and objective points of view. In Part I, I use the problems presented by circumstantial moral luck to expose the inadequacy of standard intuitions about what's required to blame another. Proposed solutions to these issues, I argue, fall into the trap of viewing blame as the outgrowth of a metaphysical status instead of an action that cannot be detached from interpersonal relationships. In Part II I generate a novel interpretation based on the projects of Hume, Strawson, and Scanlon, which posits blame as an attitude forming out of self-reflection and empathy, and criticism as a belief forming out of comparison to a rigid standard. I then elaborate on the phenomenology of such a blame act and go over the consequences my interpretation would have, including a world with substantially less blaming that would eschew vague metaphysical questions and recognize the limitations of imposing moral standards on those who have faced different circumstances.
dc.format.extent92 pp
dc.identifier.citationTugendstein, Gabriel. "Empathetic Blame: Moral Evaluation in the Face of Luck." Undergraduate thesis, Rice University, 2020. https://doi.org/10.25611/3hyg-sz31.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.25611/3hyg-sz31
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/108708
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherRice University
dc.rightsCopyright is held by author.
dc.rights.uriCreative Commons License- Attribution (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/
dc.subjectMoral Luck
dc.subjectBlame
dc.subjectCriticism
dc.subjectControl Principle
dc.subjectDavid Hume
dc.subjectP.F. Strawson
dc.subjectT.M. Scanlon
dc.subjectSusan Wolf
dc.subjectStanding to Blame
dc.titleEmpathetic Blame: Moral Evaluation in the Face of Luck
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
thesis.degree.departmentPhilosophy
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanities
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelUndergraduate
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