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    Reclassifying ε_s as environmental when it tracks volunta... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The classification of the error-term ε_s as environmental versus behavioral constraint depends on the goal of inquiry and what follows from the reclassification, not on any fixed conceptual boundary.

    Reclassifying ε_s as environmental when it tracks voluntary behavioral dispositions dissolves the very distinction that grounds responsibility attribution, making the claim self-undermining.

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    1 reason for
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    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Responsibility requires agents be identifiable as distinct causal sources; if dispositions become 'environmental,' the agent dissolves into background conditions.
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    • 2.The internal/external distinction is constitutive of moral agency itself; collapsing it eliminates the conceptual scaffolding responsibility rests upon.
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    • 3.Self-undermining arguments signal conceptual incoherence; if a theory destroys its own foundations, it cannot ground the conclusions it defends.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Voluntariness can be tracked and causally attributed even without a metaphysical internal/external boundary; distinction may be pragmatic, not constitutive.
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    • 2.Environmental factors shaping dispositions doesn't erase their role in causing behavior; agents remain causally responsible through their (shaped) dispositions.
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    • 3.The charge of self-undermining assumes dissolving a distinction destroys responsibility; but responsibility might persist through different conceptual frameworks.
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    Key Terms

    Environmental(as used in philosophy of action and responsibility)
    Coming from or caused by external circumstances and surroundings, rather than from something internal or intrinsic to a person.
    Grounds responsibility attribution(as used in ethics)
    Provides the foundation or reason for saying someone is responsible or accountable for their actions.
    Reclassifying(as used in logic and philosophy of language)
    Putting something into a different category or grouping than it was in before.
    Self-undermining(in logic and argument)
    When an idea or rule contradicts itself or destroys the very thing it's trying to achieve.
    Voluntary behavioral dispositions(as used in ethics and philosophy of action)
    A person's habitual tendencies or inclinations to act in certain ways that they choose or control—basically, patterns of behavior that someone has some say in.
    distinction(One of the two components of Arendtian plurality)
    The aspect of plurality by which no two human beings are ever interchangeable, each being endowed with a unique biography and perspective on the world
    ε_s (epsilon_s)(as used in logic and formal philosophy)
    A symbolic placeholder used in philosophical arguments to represent a specific thing being discussed—in this case, some kind of factor or characteristic that might be classified in different ways.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Philosophy of Language1 linkedMoral Responsibility1 linked

    Related

    Environmental factors shaping dispositions doesn't erase their role in causing b...Responsibility requires agents be identifiable as distinct causal sources; if di...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Self-undermining arguments signal conceptual incoherence; if a theory destroys i...
    The charge of self-undermining assumes dissolving a distinction destroys respons...
    +3 moreShow less
    The classification of the error-term ε_s as environmental versus behavioral cons...The internal/external distinction is constitutive of moral agency itself; collap...Voluntariness can be tracked and causally attributed even without a metaphysical...