The twin world condition: Where Ss action E in world W1 (a world without alternate possibilities, owing to the possibility of intervention) and Ss action E in twin world W2 (which differs from W1 only insofar as it is a world with alternate possibilities) are congruent then S in either world is morally responsible for E. PAP(s) is not necessary for the ascription of moral responsibility because moral responsibility could still be ascribed to S even where S could not have done otherwise, as the twin world condition illustrates. On mele and Robbs indeterministic Frankfurt-style case. . However, we found ourselves, by the force of events, during the last five years, in the position of a small group of citizens cognizant of a grave danger for the safety of this country as well as for the future of all the other nations, of which the rest of mankind is unaware. This further condition which I am calling twin world explains why we are still justified in assigning moral responsibility to an agent who fails to satisfy PAP in the manner described within Frankfurts counter-example. Now the doctrine that coercion and moral responsi- the informal advisers who work with the president to guide and shape their agenda, such a Russia is known to be mining radium on its own territory; and even if we do not know the size of the deposits discovered so far in the USSR, the probability that no large reserves of uranium will be found in a country which covers one-fifth of the land area of the earth (and whose sphere of influence takes in additional territory) is too small to serve as a basis for security. What would have to occur in order for the twin world condition not to be satisfied? One of these bombs could then destroy something like 3 square miles of an urban area. It is 980 too many. With the convenience of modern transportation and future innovations to come, Wright asks why proximity to the city is important. A number of theorists have concerned themselves with the question of whether alternate possibilities nevertheless remain amounting to a flicker of freedom (Fischer 2002) and therefore whether Frankfurt-style counter-examples in general constitute a legitimate challenge to PAP (see Fischer 1994; Janzen 2013; Leon and Tognazzini 2010; Palmer 2011; Schnall 2001; Young 2007, by way of a small selection of papers on this). As is well documented, this scenario led Frankfurt to conclude that PAP is false because, intuitively, we want to assign moral responsibility to Jones in this situation even though clauses (a) and/or (b) are not met and so he could not have done otherwise: a necessary condition for moral responsibility under the original PAP. Nuclear bombs cannot possibly remain a "secret weapon" at the exclusive disposal of this country for more than a few years. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. Whatever Joness initial preferences and inclinations, then, Black will have his way. In his opening sentence, Wright implores us not to childishly try to tear the city down to get the green country in and set the city up in it again on its old site feudal towers a little further apart, in an obvious first punch. I argue that PAP does not need to be endorsed as a necessary condition for moral responsibility and, in fact, presenting PAP as a sufficient condition maintains its usefulness as a maxim for moral accountability whilst avoiding Frankfurt-style counter-examples. ArchDaily 2008-2023. We now consider the question of how an effective international control of nuclear armaments can be achieved. Also, we have arguably not yet made the progress toward seamless technological integration he had hoped for. As long as nuclear bombs remain scarce (i.e. Alternative possibilities and causal histories. British scientists know as much as we do about the basic wartime progress of nucleonics -- if not of the specific processes used in our engineering developments -- and the role which French nuclear physicists have played in the pre-war development of this field, plus their occasional contact with our Projects, will enable them to catch up rapidly, at least as far as basic scientific discoveries are concerned. I conclude with the claim that neither the amended PAP nor the twin world condition is necessary for the ascription of moral responsibility; rather, what is necessary is simply that one of these conditions is satisfied. To explain, briefly: where the sign (which is different in different authors examples)Footnote 2 indicates to Black (or whoever or whatever is the counterfactual intervener) that Jones (or whoever it happens to be) is about to decide to do something contrary to Blacks wishes then Black intervenes, thereby limiting Jones decision to one possibility only, which is of course congruent with Blacks wishes. There are natural limits, 3rd or 4th order desires. In this way, the money spent on wartime development of nucleonics may become a boon for the peacetime development of national economy. , tions that representatives take on the basis of their party caucuses On the other hand, it may be argued that without an early demonstration it may prove difficult to obtain adequate support for further intensive development of nucleonics in this country and that thus the time gained by the postponement of an open armaments race will not be properly used. positions that the constituents of several representatives hold in common. Focusing on organic growth, Wright sees it as the natural next step for humanity to remove itself from busy city life based on (what he saw as) likely future innovations in transportation. However, it need not prevent the production of radioactive elements on a scale sufficient to revolutionize the industrial, scientific and technical use of these materials, and would thus not eliminate the main benefits which nucleonics promises to bring to mankind. (b) What conflict does this decision set up between the father and mother? We believe that our acquaintance with the scientific elements of the situation and prolonged preoccupation with its world-wide political implications, imposes on us the obligation to offer to the Committee some suggestions as to the possible solution of these grave problems. Princeton University student: Conservatives are being shut down before they can even voice an opinion. Scientists have often before been accused of providing new weapons for the mutual destruction of nations, instead of improving their well-being. After this, it might take other nations three or four years to overcome our present head start, and eight or ten years to draw even with us if we continue to do intensive work in this field. We have invented the machine and it should be liberating our minds and our leisure hours. It must be pointed out that in this field we are in a less favorable position than nations which are now more diffusely populated and either whose industries are more scattered, or whose governments have unlimited power over the movement of population and the location of industrial plants. Perebooms Frankfurt case and derivative culpability. The Journal of Philosophy was founded in 1904 as The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology, and Scientific Methods by Frederick J. E. Woodbridge and J. McKeen Cattell. Such an agreement would also create a system of verification and disarmament that would prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and reduce the risk of nuclear war. The Principle of Alternate Possibilities as Sufficient but not Necessary for Moral Responsibility: A way to Avoid the Frankfurt Counter-Example, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-016-9690-2, Moral Responsibility, Alternative Possibilities, and Acting on Ones Own, Individually Sufficient and Disjunctively Necessary Conditions for Moral Responsibility, The Robustness Requirement on Alternative Possibilities, Problems with Rowlands Practical Conciliationism, How (not) to construct worlds with responsibility, In Search of the Trinity: A Dilemma for Parfits Conciliatory Project, Being and holding responsible: Reconciling the disputants through a meaning-based Strawsonian account, Lueck, Bryan: Obligation and the fact of sense, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2019, ISBN: 978 1 4744 4272 5. 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Contemporaries who agreed with Franck's argument for an international agreement would likely argue that nuclear weapons pose a global threat that cannot be addressed by individual states alone. A ), Philosophical perspectives, 14, Action and Freedom: A Supplement to Nos, (pp. Russia and China are the only great nations at present which could survive a nuclear attack. Answer: Explanation: Background In 1938, a small group of German scientists accidentally discovered nuclear fission. Wholehearted commitment: we reach a level where we realize there is no need for further assessment. By insisting on either of these conditions for the ascription of moral responsibility, we also preserve some role for alternate possibilities, thereby making it necessary that they feature in our moral decision making in some form or other. Request Permissions. Given mutual trust and willingness on all sides to give up a certain part of their sovereign rights, by admitting international control of certain phases of national economy, the control could be exercised (alternatively or simultaneously) on two different levels. the universe, morality, well-ordered laws of nature, etc.). In no other type of warfare does the advantage lie so heavily with the aggressor. The twin world condition is likewise not necessary because one may not be required to compare Ss action in W1 with W2, owing to the fact that S is not performing E in a world without alternate possibilities (e.g., W2); in which case, PAP(s) applies. Irrespective of which world one is referring to, then, S should be morally condemned for performing E in (1) but morally praised for the action carried out in (2). is a place where people live, work, and spend their time. Igniting the flicker of freedom: revisiting the Frankfurt scenario. Fosse Dancers: The thrill of "Bob Fosse's Dancin'," a revival of the 1978 musical is, aptly, its dancers. Analysis, 61(4), 335340. The Japanese government instilled fierce, killing nationalism in the Japanese people, making Japan unlikely to surrender unconditionally without experiencing the effects of nuclear weapons. Current technology, in fact, seems to be moving away from the standardization Le Corbusier hoped for and closer to the personalization and customization championed by Wright in his article. The Role of History in Franck's Fairness931 20 Ibid, at 86. From this point of view, a demonstration of the new weapon might best be made, before the eyes of representatives of all the United Nations, on the desert or a barren island. Accumulations of this kind could be rapidly converted into atomic bombs if a nation should break away from international control. What if cult-man is brainwashed? Thus, from the "optimistic" point of view -- looking forward to an international agreement on the prevention of nuclear warfare -- the military advantages and the saving of American lives achieved by the sudden use of atomic bombs against Japan may be outweighed by the ensuing loss of confidence and by a wave of horror and repulsion sweeping over the rest of the world and perhaps even dividing public opinion at home. It is typeset bySheridan Journal Services, Waterbury, VT, and printed byThe Sheridan Press, Hanover, PA. Not to mention, the natural landscape certainly was not given priority in planning most suburban settlements. We therefore feel it is our duty to urge that the political problems, arising from the mastering of nuclear power, be recognized in all their gravity, and that appropriate steps be taken for their study and the preparation of necessary decisions.
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