Introduction although peter strawsons freedom and resentment was published 50. Strawsons paper freedom and resentment really succeeds in undercutting. Strawsons purpose is to dissolve the so called problem of determinism and responsibility. Strawson, moral responsibility, and the order of explanation. How do strawsons labels of optimist and pessimist correspond to the labels introduced in the final two paragraphs of the last section. See below for information about citations and references, and how to use them. Strawsons paper freedom and resentment really succeeds in undercutting the traditional debate about free will and. His more explicit concern was to look again at the question of whether determinism and freedom are consistent with one another by shifting attention to certain personal rather than moral attitudes, first of all gratitude and resentment. Peter frederick strawson 19192006 was an oxfordbased philosopher whose career spanned the second half of the twentieth century.
The meaning of freedom can be found by looking at the situations where we do and dont blame people. Actually, this is one of the most influential papers in the 20th century on the topic of free will, but many nonphilosophers who are deeply interested in free will dont know much about it. Strawson, freedom and resentment its the second case which strawson mentions and privilegeswhen we excuse someones behavior on the grounds of abnormality or lack of rational agencythat interests me. Strawson, as you will see, divides his paper into numbered sections. Peter strawsons paper freedom and resentment changed the face of the free will debate in philosophy. Strawson s famous, famous 1962 paper freedom and resentment. The meaning of freedom compatibilists agree that blame requires freedom, but deny that freedom requires indeterminism. Strawson s freedom and resentment 1960, galen strawson s the impossibility of moral responsibility 1994, and gary watsons responsibility and the limits of evil. Freedom and resentment and other essays by peter frederick.
First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawson s most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and aesthetics. Galen strawson the impossibility of moral responsibility received 15 september 1993 i there is an argument, which i will call the basic argument, which appears to prove that we cannot be truly or ultimately morally respon sible for our actions. Bibliography includes bibliographical references p. Peter strawson does not mention freedom and resentment, focusing on strawsons work on philosophy of language, philosophical logic and metaphysics.
According to the basic argument, it makes no difference whether determinism is true or false. It is an extensive version of the logical and simplistic standard argument against free will. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawson s most important work. She might also confront stan, or file a formal report, or else. Others say, or imply, that they do know what it is. To purchase this ebook for personal use, or in paperback or hardback format. Justin coates university of chicago draft november 12, 2012 1. Request pdf on freedom and resentment this paper questions whether p. Therefore 4 since s is significant, there must in some sense in spme world exist or subsist the king of france. And to this the optimists are wont to reply in turn that it is true that these practices require freedom in a sense, and the existence of freedom in this sense is one of the facts as we know them. On his view, when we engage in interpersonal relationships with others, we open ourselves up to experiencing certain emotions.
It is the metaphysical requirement for one to be responsible for ones action. Miller arly in the secondperson standpoint, stephen darwall articulates a thesis that he takes p. Strawsons paper freedom and resentment really succeeds in undercutting the traditional debate about free will and suggests that the deepest source of our. The correct form for the bibliographic reference element of a citation for the selected resource is shown in a variety of the most widelyaccepted citation styles below. The philosophical debate about free will and responsibility has been of great importance throughout the history of philosophy. Strawsons 1962 freedom and resentment has provoked a wide ride range of responses, both positive and negative, and an equally wide range of interpretations. Strawson argues that there are two different sorts of attitudes that we can take towards a person.
Free will and reactive attitudes perspectives on p. Freedom and resentment, and other essays by strawson, p. Strawson 19192006 introduced an influential version of compatibilism grounded in human psychology. Strawson made a contribution to the free will versus determinism discussions by pointing out that whatever the deep metaphysical. Peter strawsons paper, freedom and resentment did much to change the direction of the debate surrounding determinism. In the end, he arrived at a kind of compatibilist or, as he says, optimist conclusion. By the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. Strawson s freedom and resentment, michael mckenna and paul russell freedom and resentment, p.
He was the waynflete professor of metaphysical philosophy at the university of oxford magdalen college from 1968 to 1987. Although peter strawsons freedom and resentment was published 50 years ago and has been a widely discussed article,1 its main argument is still notoriously difficult to pin down. Strawson s descriptive metaphysics its scope and limits. Freedom and resentment and other essays book summary. Philosophers give very different answers to these questions. Freedom and resentment work by strawson britannica.
Edit pdf files with cutepdf editor a free online pdf editor, free cloudbased pdf reader. Strawson 19192006, in his famous 1963 essay freedom and resentment offers an elaborate account of compatibilism vs. He wrote very little about that, but his main contribution, freedom and resentment strawson 1960, is perhaps now his most famous and widely discussed paper. Download citation freedom and resentment and other essays by the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most. An intervention introduction perhaps no paper on the topic of moral responsibility in the last 60 years has had more influence or has been more widely discussed than p. Ayer accountability ii, jonathan bennett the importance of free will, susan wolf on freedom and resentment, galen strawson. On freedom and resentment request pdf researchgate. In modern times this debate has received an enormous resurgence of interest and the contribution in 1962 by p. Freedom and resentment and other essays researchgate. Strawson also published a large number of important articles, ranging over language, metaphysics, epistemology, and the history of philosophy, including a highly influential one entitled freedom and resentment published in the proceedings of the british academy in 1960, and the most important of these were. In freedom and resentment, strawson proposes a commonsense argument for compatibilism.
Do we ordinarily act with the right kind of freedom so that blame is justified. Peter frederick strawson stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawsons most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and aesthetics. Click to open peter strawsons article freedom and resentment tip. In freedom and resentment, strawson proposes a commonsense argument for. Some philosophers say they do not know what the thesis of determinism is. Then you will be apt to feel, not just angry, but resentful towards them. Of these, somethe pessimists perhapshold that if the thesis is true, then the concepts of moral obligation and responsibility really have no. Galen strawson developed a basic argument which attempts to prove that free will and moral responsibility do not exist.
These are not the deep kantian categories, these are just things we knew all along. But 3 if there in no sense exists a king of france, the sentence is not about anything, and hence not about the king of prance. Jan 01, 1974 by the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. But strawson has thought of a new move for compatibilism, at this point in the conversation. First published thirty years ago but long since unavailable, freedom and resentment collects some of strawson s most important work and is an ideal introduction to his thinking on such topics as the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and. Strawson always joked that he would turn to moral philosophy only when his powers were waning. Prior to the publication of strawsons paper in 1962, the question of whether we are free and morally responsible beings was typically seen as one which could only satisfactorily be answered metaphysically. At the time of his death in 2006, sir peter strawson was regarded as one of the worlds most distinguished philosophers. He wrote most notably about the philosophy of language, metaphysics, epistemology and the history of philosophy, especially kant. Strawson made a contribution to the free will versus determinism discussions by pointing out that whatever the deep metaphysical truth on these issues, people would not give up talking about and feeling moral responsibility, praise and blame, guilt and pride, crime and punishment, gratitude, resentment, and forgiveness. Pdf freedom and resentment and other essays download.
In freedom and resentment 1962, the british philosopher p. For strawson, the freedom of human action is a presupposition of our practices surrounding responsibility and the reactive attitudes that underlie them. Kants transcendental idealism relates to freedom and resentment because strawsons paper is an attempt to dissolve or to sidestep the problem of free will, and there are some ways in which his strategy for doing this has. Freedom and resentment wits institute for social and economic. However, an important implication of the landmark freedom and resentment has gone. On the whole, we continue to believe firmly both that we have fre. Introduction to philosophy richard holton free will iii. Peter strawson, clifford brown acumen publishing, 2006 free will and reactive attitudes. Strawson with the publication of his essay freedom and resentment has generated a wide range of discussion and criticism in the philosophical community. Strawsons work on moral responsibility is wellknown. I extended this line of thought on freedom along the following lines to the notion of selfknowledge.