Aquinas on Moral Responsibility

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

662 kr

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Beskrivning

Peter Furlong presents the first systematic study of Thomas Aquinas's account of moral responsibility.Aquinas on Moral Responsibility explores how Aquinas understands what it means to be morally responsible. Rather than focusing narrowly on freedom of the will alone, Furlong reconstructs Aquinas's view by examining the practices through which we hold each other responsible, such as praise and blame or reward and punishment. These practices, he argues, are central to understanding what it means to be morally responsible in light of one's actions.The book opens by clarifying Aquinas's conception of moral responsibility itself before asking what sort of control must someone possess over their actions in order to be responsible for them. Furlong argues that Aquinas adopts a version of the Principle of Alternative Possibilities, in which agents are responsible for their actions only if they could have done otherwise. He also defends an incompatibilist interpretation of Aquinas, arguing that moral responsibility is incompatible with determinism.Furlong also considers, through Aquinas, the ways in which a theory of moral responsibility must take into account ignorance, our settled character, luck, and passions. The result is a unified and carefully argued interpretation of Aquinas's enduring contributions to debates about freedom and moral responsibility.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2026-09-15
Mått:152 x 229 x undefined mm
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:312
Förlag:University of Notre Dame Press
ISBN:9780268211202

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Mer om författaren

Peter Furlong is a professor of philosophy at Valencia College. He is the author of The Challenges of Divine Determinism.

Recensioner i media

"This is a well-written book by a serious scholar who is clearly well versed in Aquinas's texts, the secondary literature and debates surrounding Aquinas himself, who is also conversant with the discussion surrounding similar questions in contemporary analytic philosophy. Furlong offers novel and interesting interpretations of Aquinas's position." —Angela McKay Knobel, author of Aquinas and the Infused Moral Virtues"The book strikes careful balances between attention to the text and philosophical discussion. Furlong has a particular talent for making clear distinctions and keeping distinct issues distinct when many other scholars confuse them. While he offers a broad overview of Aquinas's thought, the treatment is never superficial." —Jeffrey Hause, co-editor of Thomas Aquinas: Basic Works

Innehållsförteckning

AcknowledgementsCitation Method and Latin TextsIntroductionAbbreviations1. Moral Responsibility, Praise, and Blame2. Desert for Punishment and Reward3. Mastery, Voluntary Action, and Control: Sourcehood and the Principle of Alternative Possibilities4. The Compatibility Question5. The Epistemic Condition on Moral Responsibility6. Moral Responsibility and Tracing7. Moral Responsibility and Omissions8. Moral Responsibility and the PassionsConclusionNotesWorks CitedIndex