Moral wrongness and reactive attitudes

Abstract

In my dissertation, I examine the relationship between moral wrongness and negative reactive attitudes. In particular, I inquire (1) whether moral wrongness is conceptually connected to the empirical disposition to hold certain negative reactive attitudes or the normative status (e.g., appropriateness) of holding certain reactive attitudes, and (2) if so, which is conceptually prior. I argue that moral wrongness is not conceptually connected to the empirical disposition to hold certain negative reactive attitudes, but moral wrongness is conceptually connected to the fittingness of holding certain negative reactive attitudes towards the agent who inexcusably acts wrongly. I further argue that wrongness is conceptually prior to the fittingness of holding certain reactive attitudes, but not vice versa.