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SundayReview

TheDataAgainstKant
GrayMatter
ByVLADCHITUCandPAULHENNE

FEB.19,2016

THEhistoryofmoralphilosophyisahistoryofdisagreement,butononepoint
therehasbeenvirtualunanimity:Itwouldbeabsurdtosuggestthatweshould
dowhatwecouldntpossiblydo.
Thisprinciplethatoughtimpliescan,thatourmoralobligations
cantexceedourabilitiesplayedacentralroleintheworkofImmanuelKant
andhasbeenwidelyacceptedsince.Indeed,theideaseemsselfevidentlytrue,
muchasbachelorimpliesman.
Butisitactuallytrue?In1984,thephilosopherWalterSinnottArmstrong
outlinedaseriesofthoughtexperimentsthat,hecontended,demonstrated
thatoughtdoesnotalwaysimplycan.Thoughhisargumentfoundsome
adherents,mostphilosopherswerenotconvinced.Wethinkthatthe
consensusviewthatoughtimpliescanismistaken.Inapsychological
studytobepublishedintheMayissueofthejournalCognition,weoffer
empiricalevidencesuggestingthatProfessorSinnottArmstrongwasright.
Histhoughtexperimentsgosomethinglikethis:Supposethatyouanda
friendarebothupforthesamejobinanothercity.Sheinterviewedlast
weekend,andyourflightfortheinterviewisthisevening.Yourcarisinthe

shop,though,soyourfriendpromisestodriveyoutotheairport.Butonthe
way,hercarbreaksdownthegastankisleakingsoyoumissyourflight
anddontgetthejob.
Woulditmakeanysensetotellyourfriend,strandedatthesideofthe
road,thatsheoughttodriveyoutotheairport?Theanswerseemstobean
obviousno(afterall,shecantdriveyou),andmostphilosopherstreatthisas
alltheconfirmationtheyneedfortheprinciple.
Suppose,however,thatthesituationisslightlydifferent.Whatifyour
friendintentionallypuncturesherowngastanktomakesurethatyoumissthe
flightandshegetsthejob?Inthiscase,itmakesperfectsensetoinsistthat
yourfriendstillhasanobligationtodriveyoutotheairport.Inotherwords,
wemightindeedsaythatsomeoneoughttodowhatshecantifwere
blamingher.
ThreedecadesafterProfessorSinnottArmstrongmadethisargument,we
decidedtorunhisthoughtexperimentsasscientificones.(Wepartneredwith
ProfessorSinnottArmstronghimself,alongwiththephilosopherFelipeDe
Brigard.)Inourstudy,wepresentedhundredsofparticipantswithstorieslike
theoneaboveandaskedthemquestionsaboutobligation,abilityandblame.
Didtheythinksomeoneshouldkeepapromiseshemadebutcouldntkeep?
Wassheevencapableofkeepingherpromise?Andhowmuchwassheto
blameforwhathappened?
Wefoundaconsistentpattern,butnotwhatmostphilosopherswould
expect.Oughtjudgmentsdependedlargelyonconcernsaboutblame,not
ability.Withstoriesliketheoneabove,inwhichafriendintentionally
sabotagesyou,60percentofourparticipantssaidthattheobligationstillheld
yourfriendstilloughttodriveyoutotheairport.Butwithstoriesinwhich
theinabilitytohelpwasaccidental,theobligationallbutdisappeared.Now,
only31percentofourparticipantssaidyourfriendstilloughttodriveyou.
ProfessorSinnottArmstrongsunorthodoxintuitionturnsouttobe

sharedbyhundredsofnonphilosophers.Sowhoisright?Thevastmajorityof
philosophers,orourparticipants?
Onepossibilityisthatourparticipantswerewrong,perhapsbecausetheir
urgetoblameimpairedtheaccuracyoftheirmoraljudgments.Totestthis
possibility,westackedthedeckinthefavorofphilosophicalorthodoxy:We
hadtheparticipantslookatcasesinwhichtheurgetoassignblamewouldbe
lowestthatis,onlythecasesinwhichthecaraccidentallybrokedown.Even
still,wefoundnorelationshipbetweenoughtandcan.Theonlysignificant
relationshipwasbetweenoughtandblame.
Thisfindinghasanimportantimplication:Evenwhenwesaythat
someonehasnoobligationtokeepapromise(aswithyourfriendwhosecar
accidentallybreaksdown),itseemsweresayingitnotbecauseshesunableto
doit,butbecausewedontwanttounfairlyblameherfornotkeepingit.
Again,concernsaboutblame,notaboutability,dictatehowweunderstand
obligation.
Soherewefacetheotherpossibility,onelessflatteringtomostmoral
philosophers:Itstheirmoraljudgmentsthataredistorted.
WhilethisonestudyalonedoesntrefuteKant,ourresearchjoinsarecent
salvoofexperimentalworktargetingtheprinciplethatoughtimpliescan.
Attheveryleast,philosopherscannolongertreatthisprincipleasobviously
true.
Inthelastdecadeorso,theexperimentalphilosophymovementhas
arguedforgreateruseofempiricalsciencetoinformandshapethediscussion
ofphilosophicalproblems.Weagree:Philosophersoughttopaymore
attentiontotheircolleaguesinthepsychologydepartment(eveniftheycant).
VladChitucisanassociateinresearchattheSocialScienceResearchInstituteat
Duke,wherePaulHenneisagraduatestudentinthedepartmentofphilosophy.
AversionofthisopedappearsinprintonFebruary21,2016,onpageSR9oftheNewYorkedition

withtheheadline:TheDataAgainstKant.

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