Of Galen Strawson's Argument Of Moral Responsibility

Responsibility is a complex concept that more often than not is loosely used within our day to day conversations to assign blame. At any given point, we are quick to blame those we see as being in charge of an action as being responsible for they consciously decide their actions. Although a debate can be had as to whether or not anyone can truly be held morally responsible for their chosen actions. There are crucial factors that must be considered as to whether it is just to assign responsibility. Galen Strawson has developed an argument for the non-existence of morally responsible action that is strongly structured and provides premises that are logically sound and linked to draw the conclusion that no one is responsible An analysis of the subject of morally responsibility will prove that Galen Strawson is correct with his argument of the

In the free will debate, Strawson is firm in his belief that there is a fundamental sense in which free will is impossible regardless of whether or not determinism is true(pg.309). Strawson represents his position in what is known as the “basic argument”, a three-premise argument that draws the conclusion that no one is ultimately morally responsible for their actions. The first premise is “When I act or choose to act I do so because of the way I am psychologically(pg.309). This idea is based on the fact that we act upon motives. The second premise is “To be ultimately morally responsible for how I act, I must be untimely responsible for the way I am psychologically(pg.309). The third premise is “But I cannot be ultimately responsible for the way I am psychologically that would require I created or caused myself(pg.309) The combination of the three aforementioned premises lead to the logical conclusion that one cannot be responsible for what they