Brute luck and responsibility

Peter Vallentyne
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Peter Vallentyne: University of Missouri-Columbia, USAvallentynep@missouri.edu

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2008, vol. 7, issue 1, 57-80

Abstract: The concept of agent-responsibility for an outcome (that is, of the outcome reflecting the autonomous choice of the agent) is central to both ethics and political philosophy. The concept, however, remains radically under-explored. In particular, the issue of partial responsibility for an outcome needs further development. I propose an account of partial responsibility based on partial causal contribution. Agents who choose autonomously in full knowledge of the consequences are agent-responsible, I claim, for the shift in the objective probability of the outcome in question that her choice induces. Thus, agents will typically be only partially agent-responsible (that is, for a shift of less than 100 percent) for any given outcome. The model has an implication that is generally rejected: that agents who purchase lottery tickets and win are agent-responsible for only part of the winnings.

Keywords: option luck; risk; chances; cause; autonomy; free will; choice disposition; determinism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:pophec:v:7:y:2008:i:1:p:57-80

DOI: 10.1177/1470594X07085151

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