Why Is Strawson Wrong

In this paper, I am going to argue that Galen Strawson is wrong when he claims that we cannot be ultimately morally responsible for our actions. The basis of Strawson’s argument conveys that nothing can be the cause of itself and for one to be responsible for one’s actions then, they have to be the cause of themselves. In other words, what Strawson is saying is that you act because of the way you are. So, he says to be morally responsible for one’s action then, one must be responsible for their character, personality and motivational structure (CPM), but since you cannot be responsible for your CPM, then you are not morally responsible for your actions. To put it short, he says that if the person is not responsible for his/her being, so how …show more content…
According to Strawson, only if the person chose to be that way, then they are morally responsible for their actions. However, for that to happen the person has to already exist in this world and have the possibility of choice to choose how they want to be. But, a person cannot just choose because the person needs to have a basis of principles to rely on in order to make that choice and it keeps on regressing. In the end, Strawson is trying to show that the person never really has a choice to make because it is all dependent on conditions, and since the person has no true determination, then the person has no moral responsible of their actions. In essence, his claim is that people cannot be supposed to change themselves to the point where they are responsible for their actions and who they are, but for that to happen the …show more content…
Although we are not responsible for our existence, it lies independent to whether we are responsible of our actions. If we have free will, then we are morally responsible for our actions because we decided make those decisions that lead to those actions. In this case, what I mean by the term “free will” is the ability for the person to act and chose freely with no limitations giving the person a power of choice. Therefore, if we have the power to act and chose freely, then we have the same power to be responsible for our actions that were a result of the choices we made. My argument is as follows, if we are grown up, conscious, have no mental issues, and no genetic condition that intervenes with our choice or thinking process, then we have free will. If we have free will to choose want we want to do in life as well as our actions, then we are in control of our actions. Therefore, if we are grown up, conscious, have no mental issues, and no genetic condition that intervenes with our choice or thinking process, then we are morally responsible for our actions. My argument relates to when the person decides to change their CPM because that is where free will comes into play. For instance, if a teenager used to be nice with everyone, and suddenly in their adult life changes to being a criminal that steals jewelry and commits