Moral Responsibility In Book III Of Nicomachean Ethics
The concept of moral responsibility is critical in any functional society. Each person’s goal is to eventually reach a healthy and fulfilled life. Aristotle argues that we are responsible for our choices, therefore we are responsible for the character that is built from those choices. Aristotle states that we are responsible for the person that we are and eventually become. He also begins going into a portion of his argument where he states that children and animals make voluntary decisions, but are they responsible in the same way that mature adults are? Aristotle’s argument seems to be very circumstantial. There are many loopholes in the statements he makes throughout Book III of Nicomachean Ethics. Under what conditions is it acceptable
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First, because it is stated that children and animals are responsible for their actions and their actions are voluntary. This idea goes against our common sense entirely. These proxies are not developed enough to make decisions for themselves, and this is why there is more leniency when it comes to children making mistakes. For example, if a child commits a serious crime, generally they are punished in a juvenile court rather than an adult court. This is because it is realized that they are not fully grown or developed to make good decisions all the time. Juvenile courts’s punishments are usually less harsh than adult courts. Aristotle then begins to form his arguments about the other aspects of the notion of the voluntary. This part of the argument helps to make a connection between voluntary actions and how they relate to responsibility, moral responsibility to be specific. In the beginning of this area of text, Aristotle goes through what the circumstances must be for us to consider an action involuntary. “Actions are not considered voluntary, then, if (1) they are done in ignorance; (2) or they are not done in ignorance, but they are not up to the agent; (3) or they are done by force. For we also do or undergo many of our natural actions and processes, such as growing old and dying, in knowledge, but none of them is either voluntary or involuntary.”
First, because it is stated that children and animals are responsible for their actions and their actions are voluntary. This idea goes against our common sense entirely. These proxies are not developed enough to make decisions for themselves, and this is why there is more leniency when it comes to children making mistakes. For example, if a child commits a serious crime, generally they are punished in a juvenile court rather than an adult court. This is because it is realized that they are not fully grown or developed to make good decisions all the time. Juvenile courts’s punishments are usually less harsh than adult courts. Aristotle then begins to form his arguments about the other aspects of the notion of the voluntary. This part of the argument helps to make a connection between voluntary actions and how they relate to responsibility, moral responsibility to be specific. In the beginning of this area of text, Aristotle goes through what the circumstances must be for us to consider an action involuntary. “Actions are not considered voluntary, then, if (1) they are done in ignorance; (2) or they are not done in ignorance, but they are not up to the agent; (3) or they are done by force. For we also do or undergo many of our natural actions and processes, such as growing old and dying, in knowledge, but none of them is either voluntary or involuntary.”