ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 has listed several different meanings for the term ‘responsibility’. For example, when we say that someone is responsible for a consequence 𝜑, it may mean that one is ‘accountable’ for 𝜑, or that one is ‘blameworthy’ for 𝜑, or, that one has the ‘obligation to see to it that’ 𝜑. As we have also seen, the application of these various meanings of responsibility depends on more basic concepts, such as moral agency, causality, wrong-doing, freedom, and knowledge. For instance, an individual i is accountable for 𝜑 if i is capable to act as a moral agent, behaves in a way that is not morally acceptable (i.e., does something wrong) and this behaviour causes 𝜑. In addition, i is blameworthy for 𝜑 if i is accountable for 𝜑, knows (or could know) that 𝜑 would be the case, and acts freely, i.e., i can chose to behave differently, and this different behaviour avoids 𝜑.1 Finally, i has the obligation to see to it that 𝜑 if i has the obligation that 𝜑 and i must ensure the occurrence of 𝜑.
