Implicit biases and forward-looking responsibility

• Applicant: Dr. René Baston
• Subject Area: Practical Philosophy ; Theoretical Philosophy
• Term: from 2019 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 423200030

The project is about responsibility for discriminatory behavior which is caused by implicit biases. Traditionally, it is assumed that persons are responsible for their acts if they are conscious about the reasons which led them to undertake the action. On this basis, moral responsibility is often denied or attributed when implicit biases are considered. However, the discussion currently neglects the relevance of forward-looking accounts of responsibility. These responsibility concepts are not concerned about the conditions under which the action was executed, but about the question whether positive effects can be expected in the future if responsibility is attributed to somebody. The aim of the project is to analyze the relation between and philosophical implications of forward-looking responsibility and implicit biases.The project consists of three steps: (1) create an adequate concept of control, which can explain under what circumstances a person is in control of her behavior regardless of whether she knows what cognitive processes are influencing her. On the basis of various empirical and theoretical contributions, it is assumed that motivations play an important role for being in control; (2) the weaknesses and strengths of forward-looking concepts of responsibility will be analyzed. Here, it will be assumed that subjects are not able to intentionally create all kinds of mental states by themselves. Given that, there are some mental states, like certain motivations, which can possibly be caused by external sources, like other subjects’ information. It is examined whether less implicitly biased behavior can be expected due to responsibility and its related concepts, like blame. (3) According to Michael McKenna, responsibility is a certain type of moral conversation. This conversation and its rules will be analyzed with a focus on the concept of blame. Against the background of current empirical data from social psychology, the conditions for successful moral-responsibility-conversations will be analyzed.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Michael McKenna