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Episode 93: Freedom and Responsibility (Strawson vs. Strawson)
On P.F. Strawson’s “Freedom and Resentment” (1960), Galen Strawson’s “The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility” (1994), and Gary Watson’s “Responsibility and the Limits of Evil: Variations on a Strawsonian Theme” (1987).
Do we ordinarily act with the right kind of freedom so that blame is justified? Galen Strawson says no: our choices stem from our character, which is not something we chose (or if we did choose a path to having that character, that prior choice wasn’t the result of another choice, etc.). Galen’s father P.F. Strawson said that blame and resentment are essential parts of our social attitudes and aren’t really open to philosophical critique, no matter what you think about determinism.
http://www.partiallyexaminedlife.com/2014/05/02/ep93-strawson-free-will/
If you don't know about the podcast "Partially Examined Life', I highly recommend it. The linked episode is about the problem determinism presents to the concept of moral responsibility. If you, like I do, think that consciousness is not some metaphysical property completely distinct from matter, then there are interesting implications of that belief, not that you have any choice in the matter
