Peter Strawson Says There Are Cases Where an Agent Is

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The Answer is Peter Strawson, in his influential essay "Freedom and Resentment" (1962), explores the nature of moral responsibility and the attitudes we hold towards others when they act in ways that affect us. Strawson introduces the concept of "reactive attitudes," such as resentment, gratitude, forgiveness, and love, which are responses to the actions of others that reflect our involvement in interpersonal relationships.

Strawson argues that there are indeed cases where an agent is not the sort of person toward whom reactive attitudes like resentment are ever appropriate. Examples of such agents might include very young children, people with severe mental disabilities, or those who are in some way incapacitated. In these cases, we do not hold these individuals morally responsible for their actions in the same way we would a fully competent adult because they lack certain capacities or conditions that are necessary for moral agency, such as the ability to understand and follow moral reasons.

However, Strawson does not believe that accepting determinism—the view that every event, including human actions, is determined by preceding events and the laws of nature—would lead us to view everyone as not appropriate targets of reactive attitudes. He argues that even if we intellectually accepted the truth of determinism, it would not and should not change our practices of holding people responsible. This is because our involvement in interpersonal relationships is not based on a theoretical understanding of the metaphysics of free will but is instead deeply rooted in our human nature and the way we live our lives.

Strawson suggests that our reactive attitudes are part of the "natural" human response to the actions of others, and they are embedded in the framework of human life. They are non-detachable from the way we interact with one another, and they play a crucial role in our personal and social lives. The practice of holding each other responsible is bound up with these attitudes and is not contingent on the truth or falsity of determinism.

In other words, Strawson believes that our reactive attitudes are not predicated on a belief in libertarian free will (the idea that we have free will that is not determined by past events). Instead, they are a part of our social fabric and are essential for maintaining the kind of interpersonal relationships that are fundamental to our lives as social beings. Even if determinism were true, it would not necessarily undermine the legitimacy of our moral practices, because these practices are grounded in our natural human responses and the importance of maintaining interpersonal relationships, not in metaphysical theories about the nature of free will.

Peter Strawson Says There Are Cases Where an Agent Is

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