Sins of negligent omission: A study of ancient and medieval views on the relation between the intellect and the will.

摘要

The question of how blameworthiness and culpability for a 'negligent omission' can be ascribed to an agent is a particularly puzzling philosophical and theological problem. Negligent omissions are cases in which an agent fails to perform some action she is under some moral obligation to do. For an omission to count as negligent, moreover, it must be unintended by the agent. Nevertheless, the agent should have 'seen to it' that she not omit the action.; Cases of negligent omission are puzzling because they challenge the commonly held belief about being blameworthy, namely, that it requires a mental, intentional state in the agent. Stated in terms of Aristotelian voluntariness, they are problematic because the one who omits negligently does not have knowledge of that which she is failing to do when the omission occurs. Knowledge of what one is or is not doing, however, is essential to an Aristotelian understanding of voluntariness. Voluntariness, in turn, is required for blameworthiness. As a result, it is unclear how guilt, sinfulness, or moral failure can be ascribed to one who so omits. Nevertheless, most philosophers and theologians have persisted in holding such agents as culpably blameworthy.; This text is an attempt to understand how such negligent omissions fulfill Aristotelian conditions for voluntariness. It offers a non-traditional interpretation of Aristotle's akratic so as to better understand the 'knowledge requirement' for voluntariness. Anselm's action theory is then discussed. The theologically significant point is made that for Anselm, the first sin of a rational creature must have been a negligent omission. A step toward solving the puzzle of negligent omissions is then made by examining Aquinas's theory of action. Finally, long discussions of Scotus's and Suarez's writings lead to the constructive proposal that a particular Scotist-Suarezian framework can solve the problem of voluntariness for negligent omissions.