How are the words praise and blame related?

Praise and blame are closely connected with the concept of moral responsibility for an action, omission, or a trait of character. There are of course other senses of praise and blame that are not ethically relevant. One may, for example, praise someone’s good dress sense, and blame the weather for the crop failure.

What does Aristotle say about praise?

Aristotle says that praise and blame are only proper responses to voluntary actions and states of character. He defines a voluntary action as an action that is done with knowledge of what one is doing (i.e., not in factual ignorance) and which one brings about by one’s own ‘will’ or determination.

What is moral praise?

By moral praise, we mean the cognitive appraisal regarding an agent’s positive moral behavior and character (e.g., being prosocial, performing a ‘good deed’, helping others in need, etc.), the appraisal that an agent’s positive behavior exceeded typical duties and obligations (what philosophers refer to as …

What is moral blame?

Blame is a response that may follow on the judgment that a person is morally responsible for behavior that is wrong or bad, and praise is a response that may follow on the judgment that a person is morally responsible for behavior that is right or good. …

How does praise and blame influence learning?

In fact, they provide an important justification for praise and blame in terms of mutual accountability – that is, they help with moral learning by communicating when we have met or failed to meet moral standards.

Which is most important in a speech of praise or blame?

According to Aristotle’s conception of epideixis, “the present is the most important; for all speakers praise or blame in regard to existing qualities, but they often make use of other things, both reminding [the audience] of the past and projecting the course of the future” (Rhet. 1358b).

Is it ethical to blame?

Unlike dispraise, blame involves more than merely grading someone’s actions or character (morally), since blame carries with it the implication that the person is responsible for their action or character. Blame, then, is a negative evaluative judgment that implies responsibility.

Can a human person be held responsible for his her actions Why?

Since human actions, at an appropriate level of description, are part of the universe, it follows that humans cannot act otherwise than they do; free will is impossible. Since moral responsibility seems to require free will, hard determinism implies that no one is morally responsible for his actions.

Is blame a reactive attitude?

While these “Strawsonian” accounts of blame focus on the reactive attitudes (particularly resentment, indignation, and guilt), other emotional theories of blame are more inclusive.

What is the nature of blame?

The nature of blame is both cognitive and social. On the cognitive side, people progress through considerations of causality, intentionality, and mental states to arrive at judgments of blame, which are thus fundamentally grounded in a theory of mind.

How do praise and blame generally affect people?

Praise and blame respond to the person as the chooser of her deed; they recognize her dignity as a rational agent, as Kantians tend to put it. This approach sharply contrasts with two further ways of thinking about the issues. One is utilitarian, where praise and blame are justified in terms of their social benefits.

Why is blame good?

Blame protects your ego. In a way, blaming is form of social comparison that is status-seeking. If you blame someone, it puts you in the superior seat, making you feel more important and the ‘good’ person as opposed to their ‘bad’. Of course some people use blaming to make themselves a victim.