Eugene Schlossberger: Moral Responsibility and Persons

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#CC0000" alink="#CC0000"><center><hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade>Argues that we are responsible not so much for what we do as for who we are<hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade><p><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9780877228790&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><img src="844_reg.gif" height=200 border=1 vspace=4></p></center><h1>Moral Responsibility and Persons</h1> <h3>Eugene Schlossberger</h3> <P>cloth 0-87722-879-5 $72.50, Jan 92, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Out of Stock Unavailable</FONT> <br>Electronic Book 1-43990-651-3 $73.50 <FONT COLOR=#990033>Out of Stock Unavailable</FONT> <BR> 244 pp </P><BLOCKQUOTE><I>"This is a fine book. The scholarship is careful, thorough, and fair.... The themes are of central philosophical importance. And most of all, the thesis is both novel and (after the author�s able argument) plausible."</I> <br>&#151<b>Lawrence C. Becker</b>, College of William and Mary<I></I></BLOCKQUOTE> <p>Challenging traditional philosophical views of moral responsibility, Eugene Schlossberger argues that we are responsible not so much for what we do as for who we are. He explores what it means to be a person, concluding that personhood is the sum of beliefs and values&#151which are by no means entirely within our control. Consequently, the voluntariness of our acts&#151or even whether we act at all&#151is irrelevant to the moral evaluation of us as persons. Schlossberger contends that we are to be judged morally on the basis of what we are, our "world-view," rather than what we do. <p>In <I>Moral Responsibility and Persons</I> Schlossberger disputes various received philosophical positions. His challenging and entertaining account also examines psychology and its view of the nature of personhood, as well as insanity and the "personality" of animals, children, and computers. He explores the validity of emotions we may feel in response to others&#151especially gratitude and resentment. And finally, Schlossberger tackles the inevitable implications of his position in the area of crime and punishment. <BR> <h2>Reviews</h2> <p><I>"The author puts forth a picture which is coherent and intriguing. The main project is to develop a theory of moral responsibility. He develops this theory with considerable ingenuity, and ties it to answers to traditional puzzles, such as the relationship between causal determinism and freedom to do otherwise, and the nature of personal identity.... The work is certainly original and very readable. It is an interesting and worthwhile book."</I> <br>&#151<b>John Martin Fischer</b>, University of California, Riverside <BR> <h2>Contents</h2><P> <p>Acknowledgments <p>1. Approaching Responsibility <br><I>Overview &#149 Problems with the Traditional View</I> <p>2. Personhood <br><I>The General Concept of a Person &#149 Moral Personhood &#149 Problems of Personal Identity &#149 Concluding Remarks</I> <p>3. A Theory of Responsibility <br><I>Defining Responsibility &#149 An Account of Responsibility &#149 Hume and Motives &#149 Objections</I> <p>4. Determinism <br><I>Mental Derangement &#149 Mitigating Circumstances and Duress &#149 Inability and Choice &#149 Mind Tampering &#149 Summary</I> <p>5. Punishment and Personal Emotions <br><I>Punishment and Retribution &#149 A Theory of Retribution &#149 Gratitude and Resentment</I> <p>Appendixes <br>A. A Variant of PAP <br>B. Object-Stages <br>C. Perry on Personal Identity <br>D. Van Inwagen's Argument <br>E. The Nature of Emotions <br>F. George Sher on Desert <br>Notes <br>Index </P><BR> <H2>About the Author(s)</H2> <P><b>Eugene Schlossberger</b> is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University, Calumet.</P> <BR><H2>Subject Categories</H2> <p><A HREF="/tempress/philosophy.html" TARGET="_top">Philosophy and Ethics</a> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9780877228790&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="copyright.html" onMouseOver="window.status='Web Copyright Policy';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Web Copyright Policy">©</a> 2015 <a href="http://www.temple.edu" target="new" onMouseOver="window.status='Link to Temple University home page';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Link to Temple University home page">Temple University</a>. All Rights Reserved. http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/844_reg.html</font></p>