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Moral agency simply means that you're capable of making moral judgements. He's basically saying that only humans are smart enough to judge the outcome of their
by Sylos 8y ago
Moral agency simply means that you're capable of making moral judgements. He's basically saying that only humans are smart enough to judge the outcome of their actions as good or bad, and as a result he thinks that we have a responsibility to not do things we deem bad.
Which is exactly a notion that's being challenged by modern science. We observe animals from apes to crows that do understand the outcome of their actions. Whether they judge it as good or bad in a grander scheme, we don't know, but that grander scheme is just as well being challenged by nihilism.
- stareatgoats 8y agoYes, I know what moral agency means, I was being facetious, sorry about that. The implied meaning was a jab at a rather common interpretation of the 'modern science' paradigm, which advocates determinism and downplays free will (and hence moral agency). It is one of many stupefying factors of our time.
- danielam 8y agoMoral agency entails more than understanding (predicting outcomes is also not sufficient for moral understanding). It also requires that the agent is capable of acting voluntarily. Whether an agent has rights also depends on his (in principle) capacity for moral responsibility. Furthermore, much of what is presented as modern science challenging "classical" views of free will, language and the like is dubious on closer inspection. Libet is a great example.