Responsibility

This volume presents a broad and accessible discussion of responsibility in various areas of human life, from personal and sexual relations to politics. The author discusses freedom of the will, criticizes utilitarianism and offers a user's guide to current theories of punishment. Responsibility is a key concept in moral, social and political thinking, but is not itself properly understood. In this book J.R. Lucas elucidates it in terms of answerability - the obligation to answer the question "why did you do it?". He develops this account to include negative responsibility - "why did you not do something about it?" - and shared responsibility, which together yield the rationale of political responsibility. In disentangling these two strands of argument, the potential conflicts between them are pointed out within the ideal of responsible government. Flaws are exposed in consequentialism generally, and the utilitarian theory of punishment in particular - the insights of retributive theories are argued for, but without their vindictiveness.
Separate chapters are devoted to rewards, money and personal relations, outlines of the fundamental principles of business and professional ethics, and finally the book touches on those issues that go beyond responsibility altogether. J.R. Lucas is also the author of "Principles of Politics", "The Freedom of the Will", "A Treatise on Time and Space", "Essays on Freedom and Grace", "Democracy and Participation", "On Justice" and "Space, Time and Causality".