Moral Responsibility
Related content
- Academic freedom
- Accountability
- Alasdair MacIntyre
- Andrew Eshleman
- Apartheid
- Applied ethics
- Aristotle
- Arthur Schopenhauer
- Augustine of Hippo
- Autonomy
- Axiology
- Baruch Spinoza
- Bernard Williams
- Blame
- Category Concepts in ethics
- Category Ethical theories
- Category Ethics
- Category Ethics stubs
- Category Moral philosophers
- Christian ethics
- Cicero
- Civil liberties
- Clarence Darrow
- Cognitive neuroscience
- Collective responsibility
- Compatibilist
- Confucius
- Conscience
- Consent
- Consequentialism
- Daniel Dennett
- David Eagleman
- David Hume
- Declaration of Human Duties and Responsibilities
- Deontological ethics
- Derek Parfit
- Descriptive ethics
- Desert (philosophy)
- Determinism
- Digital object identifier
- Diminished responsibility
- Dualism (philosophy of mind)
- Economic freedom
- Egalitarianism
- Epistle to the Romans
- Ethical realism
- Ethics
- Ethics of care
- Evil
- Evolutionary ethics
- Experimental philosophy
- Fallacy of the single cause
- Fatalist
- Free will
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of association
- Freedom of education
- Freedom of information
- Freedom of movement
- Freedom of religion
- Freedom of speech
- Freedom of the press
- Freedom of thought
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Frontal lobe
- G. E. Moore
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
- Good and evil
- Happiness
- Hard determinist
- Henry Sidgwick
- House of Responsibility
- Immanuel Kant
- Incompatibilist
- Index of ethics articles
- Insanity defense
- Intellectual freedom
- Intention
- International Standard Book Number
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Iroquois
- Islamic ethics
- J. L. Mackie
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Jeremy Bentham
- Jewish ethics
- John Rawls
- John Stuart Mill
- Joshua Knobe
- Just War
- Justice
- Karl Barth
- Legal ethics
- Legal responsibility
- Leopold and Loeb
- Liberty
- List of ethicists
- Medical ethics
- Mencius
- Meta-ethics
- Metaphysical libertarian
- Mind
- Moral
- Moral agents
- Moral hazard
- Moral responsibility
- Morality
- Mozi
- Negative liberty
- Neuroethics
- Neuroscience of free will
- Norm (philosophy)
- Normative ethics
- Noûs
- Obligation
- Oxford University Press
- PACE
- Paul of Tarsus
- Paul Tillich
- Pearson Longman
Moral responsibility
Moral responsibility usually refers to the idea that a person has moral obligations in some situations. Disobeying moral obligations, then, becomes grounds for justified punishment. Deciding what justifies punishment, if anything, is a principle concern of ethics.
People who have moral responsibility for an action are usually called moral agents. Agents are creatures that are capable of reflecting on their situation, forming intentions about how they will act, and then carrying out that action. Many believe[who?] that agency, and thus moral responsibility, requires free will. Thus, free will is an important issue in the debate on whether individuals are ever morally responsible for their actions—and, if so, in what sense. Incompatibilists think that determinism is at odds with free will, whereas compatibilists think the two can coexist.
Society generally holds people responsible for their actions, and will say that they deserve praise or blame for what they do. However, moral responsibility is not necessarily the same as legal responsibility. A person is legally responsible for an event when it is that person who is liable to be penalised in the court system for an event. Although it may often be the case that when a person is morally responsible for an act, they are also legally responsible for it, the two states do not always coincide.[citation needed]
View MoreBegging business leaders flood Trump with pleas for help after Apple wins tariff exemption
Raw Story | 22 Apr 2025President Donald Trump granted Apple and many other tech businesses an exemption from his "Liberation Day" tariff regime so their supply chains in China would not be disrupted — and now a bunch more companies are coming to beg for similar arrangements, The New York Times...
Earth Day: What do outer space and deep oceans have in common?
Channel 4 | 22 Apr 2025A free Earth Day exhibition took place this week, right under the garish streetscreens of Piccadilly Circus in central London. Organised by Space For A Better World and Space For Art Foundation, a series of film screenings brought together scientists, storytellers, astronauts, and ocean advocates in one big event: Ocean,...
Indian police say gunmen kill at least 20 tourists in Kashmir
North Shore News | 22 Apr 2025SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian police say gunmen have killed at least 20 tourists at a resort in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Two senior police officers said at least four gunmen, whom they described as militants, fired at dozens of tourists from close range Tuesday. The officers said at least three dozen others were injured, many...
Russian wheat exports plummet for fourth straight month on lower profitability
Invezz | 22 Apr 2025SovEcon, a leading agricultural consultancy, estimates that Russia will export 2.0 million metric tons of wheat in April. This figure represents a significant decrease compared to the 5.0 million metric tons exported in April of the previous year and is also notably lower than the five-year average for April exports, which...
Court flags lawyer's conduct for scandalising court proceedings, refers matter to Delhi HC
Hindustan Times | 22 Apr 2025New Delhi, A court here has referred the "questionable and objectionable conduct" of a lawyer to the Delhi High Court and the Bar Council of Delhi for assessing his professional behaviour, observing that he made "unwarranted remarks" while "scandalising" the proceedings. Court flags lawyer's conduct for scandalising court...