Frankfurt on Personhood and Moral Responsibility
Ethics- Spring 2013
11 February 2013
Frankfurt on Personhood and Moral Responsibility In Harry Frankfurt’s philosophy journal on “Personhood and Moral Responsibility” he formulates many ideas of how people should act. He believes a person is morally responsible for what he has done, only if he could have done otherwise. A person could have done otherwise if the casual determinism is false, and therefore they are not morally responsible. According to Frankfurt, to be a person, one must have a second-order desire. A second-order desire is a desire about a first-order desire, that they yearn to have or not have a certain desire of the first order, and a first-order desire is one that is more than a desire, it is more if one wants to do or not do something. Frankfurt refers to people who have no second-order desires, which he believes are essential to being a person, as “wantons” (11). Wantons simply let their first-order desires play out, and do not care about their will. They may sometimes reflect on their desires, but they would never form second-order longings. Wantons are mainly animals, young children, and adults who may not have the opportunity to act in accordance to their desires. Frankfurt maintains that free will is the ability to make ones will conform to second-order desires, and to be morally responsible for one’s actions, one must accept that they had second-order desires about it. By saying this however, Frankfurt is accepting his theory that if one does not have these second-order desires they are not classified as a “person”, and then they cannot be held morally responsible for anything, since they are not a “person”. Frankfurt believes that having free will does not mean having the freedom to do what one wants. That is freedom of action. If you deprive someone the freedom of their action, that does not mean you are undermining the freedom of their will. Someone who may not be able to act on their desires is in no way hindered in their
11 February 2013
Frankfurt on Personhood and Moral Responsibility In Harry Frankfurt’s philosophy journal on “Personhood and Moral Responsibility” he formulates many ideas of how people should act. He believes a person is morally responsible for what he has done, only if he could have done otherwise. A person could have done otherwise if the casual determinism is false, and therefore they are not morally responsible. According to Frankfurt, to be a person, one must have a second-order desire. A second-order desire is a desire about a first-order desire, that they yearn to have or not have a certain desire of the first order, and a first-order desire is one that is more than a desire, it is more if one wants to do or not do something. Frankfurt refers to people who have no second-order desires, which he believes are essential to being a person, as “wantons” (11). Wantons simply let their first-order desires play out, and do not care about their will. They may sometimes reflect on their desires, but they would never form second-order longings. Wantons are mainly animals, young children, and adults who may not have the opportunity to act in accordance to their desires. Frankfurt maintains that free will is the ability to make ones will conform to second-order desires, and to be morally responsible for one’s actions, one must accept that they had second-order desires about it. By saying this however, Frankfurt is accepting his theory that if one does not have these second-order desires they are not classified as a “person”, and then they cannot be held morally responsible for anything, since they are not a “person”. Frankfurt believes that having free will does not mean having the freedom to do what one wants. That is freedom of action. If you deprive someone the freedom of their action, that does not mean you are undermining the freedom of their will. Someone who may not be able to act on their desires is in no way hindered in their