Outsidethebox wrote: Can we really be to blame for anything we do??
Hi Tom,
A topic for thousands of years without resolution is the debate between determinism and free will.
A strict determinist believes no blame is possible as everything in the universe has a prior cause. The universe is a big pinball machine, with “first cause” as far as we can trace goes back to the bing bang. In the most extreme form, your existence, every behavior and this post ultimately can be traced back to a process of causes/effects that was set in motion billions of years ago. That view argues free will doesn’t exist. And without free will, no blame is possible, no sin is possible, no morality is possible, etc.
The above view out of the way, let me explain why a person can still be blamed, even in a deterministic universe.
A child is not born knowing that 1 + 1 = 2.
You know that 1 + 1 = 2, right?
Now, you can argue all you want that learning 1+ 1 = 2 is not your fault, you are not to blame, that based on the universe and people around you and the age into which you were born, you learned this basic math.
Fair enough. Learning 1 + 1 = 2 wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you. But, you have now demonstrated you have that knowledge. You know! I know that you know, because you have demonstrated multiple times you are aware and capable of answering correctly the question “What does 1 + 1 equal?”
You take a test to qualify for a job and you incorrectly answer the question about 1 + 1. Who is to blame? Who is responsible?
You are. You are to blame if you get it wrong.
Sure, we can trace back the error to whatever you wish that caused your neurons to misfire, impacting your recall and you writing down 3 for the answer. Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep, maybe you suffered a brain injury, maybe you are getting old. As we age, cognitive ability declines. We can try to shift blame, but the primary responsibility is with you, the person that has demonstrated multiple times that they are fully aware and capable of responding correctly to the question.
Regardless of factors you can point to as a reason, you will most likely be held responsible for getting the answer incorrect. You will be blamed. Not fair? Too bad. If you have suffered brain damage or cognitive decline, that is still you responding, albeit a you in cognitive decline.
For the extreme determinist, for someone that believes that blame is not possible, the response is even more simple. Of course you can be blamed, because it was determined billions of years ago as the universe was formed that you will be blamed. It was determined, based on complex cause effect systems, that you can and will be blamed and you will suffer the consequences of that blame.
My response certainly will not resolve an intractable issue that philosophers have debated for thousands of years. But, it doesn’t really matter. A belief in free will or determinism will not impact how blame works in life. If a person demonstrates they know a rule, then they violate that rule, they get blamed. Mitigating circumstances can and often are taken into account, but the person knew better, the person is to blame.