Why do victims sometimes receive sympathy for their suffering and at other times scorn and blame? Here we show a powerful role for moral values in attitudes toward victims. We measured moral values associated with unconditionally prohibiting harm ("individualizing values") versus moral values associated with prohibiting behavior that destabilizes groups and relationships ("binding values": loya...

The "Smart" of my title is J. J. C. Smart. He has proposed an austere version of compatibilism. 1 The generic doctrine of compatibilism holds that the claim-that all human choices are events in the physical world that are caused either deterministically or indeterministically-is compatible with moral responsibility and desert. 2 According to Smart's version, one is morally responsible for a cho...

Why do victims sometimes receive sympathy for their suffering and at other times scorn and blame? Here we show a powerful role for moral values in attitudes toward victims. We measured moral values associated with unconditionally prohibiting harm (“individualizing values”) versus moral values associated with prohibiting behavior that destabilizes groups and relationships (“binding values”: loya...

Most ethical theories are based on the assumption that the results of actions are known and are part of the ethical evaluation of moral behaviour. This leads to fundamental problems of the ethical evaluation of future states because the future is by definition unknown. Risks as known uncertainties that result from human action often have morally relevant consequences but they defy easy classifi...

The question whether a scientist can be responsible for an outcome of her work which she does not foresee, and so is ignorant of, is addressed. It is argued that ignorance can be a ground for the attribution of responsibility, on condition that there are general principles, rules or norms, that the subject should be aware of. It is maintained that there are such rules which inform the practice ...

Today’s robots are used mainly as advanced tools and do not have any capability of taking moral responsibility. However, autonomous, learning intelligent systems are developing rapidly, resulting in a new division of tasks between humans and robots. The biggest worry about autonomous intelligent systems seems to be the fear of human loss of control and robots running amok. We argue that for all...

Combatting chronic, lifestyle-related disease has become a healthcare priority in the developed world. The role personal responsibility should play in healthcare provision has growing pertinence given the growing significance of individual lifestyle choices for health. Media reporting focussing on the 'bad behaviour' of individuals suffering lifestyle-related disease, and policies aimed at enco...