Thomas Reid · 1788
Essays on the Active Powers of Man
- Language
- English
- Form
- Treatise
- Text
- Full text
- English
- English original
- Source text
- archive.org
- Selected
- Ben Breen, 2026-09-29; suggested by Claude research agents, 29 Sep 2026
- Status
- Arguments unverified; quotations chosen by machine, unchecked
Q06AUTOMATON
Can people be morally responsible for actions that follow necessarily from their bodily constitution and circumstances?No. responsibility requires freedom from necessity. Moral accountability requires a real power to will or not will an action; if every act were necessitated, no one would be responsible.
Essay IV, 'Of the Liberty of Moral Agents' · Archive.org record (Edinburgh, 1788); IEP 'Thomas Reid: Theory of Action' gives Essay IV title and argument.