Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Moral Responsibility
Sartre believes that we are responsible for all of our actions, and I agree with this notion to an extent. I don't think that any individual has the full capacity to comprehend or formulate all of the possible outcomes of their actions, but I still feel as though we must understand that those actions would not have taken place without us. It may seem strange, but everything we do does have some impact on the world in some way.
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Ashley, I think that you brought up an important question: Are humans responsible for all actions that they perform or only ones that are volitional (that they purposefully do)? Sartre does not seem to separate the two forms of actions (volitional and non-volitional). If I had to guess, I would say that he believes everything that humans do (intentionally or unintentionally) should be held accountable.
ReplyDeleteI also find something problematic with this idea that we are thrust into existence and from there people are responsible for creating their identity and moral standards. Can Sartre simply ignore that certain circumstances brought the individual into existence to begin with, or in other words we all have a history (through our parents and lineage) that we had no control over? Wouldn't that history play some sort of role in our decisions? Are we then completely responsible for all actions?
ReplyDeleteI too find it problematic that Sartre thinks we should be held accountable for all of our actions. Even if we plan tirelessly for one outcome, there is always a chance that there will be a different outcome. We are not the only factors in a situation.
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