Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!rutgers!mtunx!whuts!homxb!ho7cad!kqb From: kqb@ho4cad.ATT.COM Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Re: AIList V6 #86 - Philosophy Summary: responsibility is a contract, not a property of a person Message-ID: <325@ho7cad.ATT.COM> Date: 9 May 88 18:18:52 GMT References:<368693.880430.MINSKY@AI.AI.MIT.EDU> <721@taurus.BITNET> Sender: nuucp@ho7cad.ATT.COM Lines: 40 In article <721@taurus.BITNET>, shani@TAURUS.BITNET writes: > ... if everything is pre-determined or random, > how can you asume responsibility to what you are doing? and if responsibility > does not exist, the whole matter of free will and value system has no content, > ... A few people have expressed difficulty with the notion of responsibility when they discover that a person's actions are a combination of (1) deterministic processes and (2) random processes. I think that the difficulty arises from a confused notion of responsibility (and "free will"). In this message I aim to remove (some of) the confusion from the concept of responsibility. Responsibility can be claimed ("I stand for X and will be responsible for X.") or assigned ("You are Joey's parent and are responsible for Joey's actions."). Responsibility does not exist independent of a claim or assignment of responsibility; it is a personal or social contract rather than an intrinsic property of a person. We may question whether or not an assignment or claim of responsibility is appropriate (useful), but it is a waste of time to ask whether or not a person IS responsible (due to "free will", etc.). A claim or assignment of responsibility is most useful when the responsible person has the power to uphold that responsibility. It is not useful to assign responsibility for the war between Iran and Iraq to a newborn baby in Cincinnati because the baby has no power over that situation. On the other hand, it may be useful for an adult to claim responsibility for world hunger (even though he or she did not personally cause it), because there is a lot that a resourceful and committed adult can do about that. Here is why the notion of responsibility_as_a_contract works: Assigning responsibility to the appropriate person is useful because it changes the environment of the person who is assigned responsible. Since people are capable of understanding the consequences of their actions, an assignment of responsibility can be a useful way to modify their behavior. Claiming responsibility can be a useful way to clarify, prioritize, and communicate your values. (If you are ever concerned about whether or not your life means anything, try taking a stand on something that you care about.) - Kevin Q. Brown ...ihnp4!ho4cad!kqb < Standard disclaimer >