Mohammadhadi Fazeli: "Still Responsible!"

Mohammadhadi Fazeli, University of Gothenburg: "Still Responsible!"

Abstract
Many have claimed that an agent remains morally responsible for a wrongdoing that he/she committed a long time ago if the agent retains the same objectionable attitude or quality of will over time. If the agent's character traits, agential features, and psychological and intellectual qualities such as will, intention, reasoning, etc., change sufficiently and relevantly over time, the agent might become less responsible or get off the hook for her remote past wrongdoing. In my talk, I claim that an agent might be morally responsible at a later point in time even when he/she has undergone significant characteristic changes over time. In other words, the facts that ground an agent's responsibility for his/her remote past wrongdoing at a later point in time can be divorced from the conditions under which the agent remains responsible for his/her remote past wrongdoing over time. As I argue, being personally identical to the agent (i.e., to be the one) who committed the wrongdoing in the remote past and taking responsibility for committing it are jointly sufficient for the agent to be responsible for his/her remote past wrongdoing at a later point in time. I go over a few objections to my account before concluding the talk in the end.