Jefferson, Anneli  ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1870-1361
2026.
Working out how blame works.
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
, aoag024.
10.1093/arisoc/aoag024
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Abstract
Recently, there have been two kinds of account of blame that aim to specify what blame is good for. One gives a functional explanation of blame, the other gives an instrumentalist moral justification of blame based on its effects. In the talk, I investigate the relationship between these two types of project. I argue that while in principle, an instrumentalist justification can draw on a functionalist explanation of blame to show that blame has morally desirable effects, there is no well-developed functionalist account of blame that can currently serve that purpose. Furthermore, a functionalist explanation need not paint blame in a morally favourable light. I then consider and reject an argument by Queloz which says that functionalist explanations of blame must necessarily come apart from consequentialist justification, and that the justification of blame needs to be non-consequentialist.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Date Type: | Published Online |
| Status: | Published |
| Schools: | Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| ISSN: | 0066-7374 |
| Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 27 March 2026 |
| Date of Acceptance: | 24 March 2026 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Jun 2026 13:45 |
| URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186030 |
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