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List of contents
- Chapter 1. Freedom and Obligation: A Dilemma
- Chapter 2. Determinism and Obligation
- Chapter 3. Indeterminism and Obligation
- Chapter 4. The Extended Luck Problem
- Chapter 5. Obligation and Responsibility
- Chapter 6. Does Obligation Require Weak or Strong Alternatives?
- Chapter 7. Obligation and Forgiveness
- Chapter 8. Options and Challenges
- Appendix A. The Actual Sequence Proposal
- Appendix B. Some Other Responses to the O-Luck Problem
About the author
Ishtiyaque Haji is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Calgary. His research areas are in ethical theory, philosophy of action, metaphysics, and philosophical psychology. He is author of Luck's Mischief (2016) and Reason's Debt to Freedom (2012), both with Oxford University Press.
Summary
Can you be morally obligated to do something? To renowned philosopher Ishtiyaque Haji, the answer is guardedly no. Regardless of whether determinism is true, he argues, there is a prima facie plausibility that there are no moral obligations. Powerfully and efficiently, Haji develops a conclusion that has major implications for how we conceive issues in moral responsibility and free will. The book develops the obligation dilemma as clearly as possible. The next step will be for further sustained philosophical work to solve it, assuming it can be resolved, inspired by Haji.
In many respects, the obligation dilemma mirrors the well-known responsibility dilemma, where no one is morally responsible for anything. When suitably amended, the strongest recommendations in favor of, or in response to, the responsibility dilemma neither fully support nor undermine the obligation dilemma. Exposing the obligation dilemma's implications for responsibility, and its ramifications for forgiveness (something central to interpersonal relationships), underscores its urgency.
Additional text
Haji makes an impressive, powerful case for the existence of a deep problem about the very possibility of moral obligation, one that resembles problems about the possibility of free will and moral responsibility but is even more challenging. This carefully argued, insightful book accords sustained critical attention to a wealth of relevant literature on obligation, free will, and moral responsibility, and it will undoubtedly motivate readers to try to develop a solution to Haji's obligation dilemma. It is an important, ground-breaking contribution to the literature.
