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Dimensions of Responsibility

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The Attribution of Blame

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Social Psychology ((SSSOC))

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Abstract

What does it mean to say that a person is “responsible” for an event? Does it mean that the person caused the occurrence? that the person should be held legally accountable? that despite any decisions that might or might not be reached by the legal system, the person should be held morally accountable for the event? The question of responsibility, like the question of causality, is a complex one. Consider an example: Suppose that a person raises a loaded rifle, takes careful aim, pulls the trigger, and the bullet that is fired kills another person. Is the one who pulled the trigger “responsible?”

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© 1985 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Shaver, K.G. (1985). Dimensions of Responsibility. In: The Attribution of Blame. Springer Series in Social Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5094-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-5094-4_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9561-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-5094-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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