Inception and Philosophy: Because It's Never Just a Dream (Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture) by David Kyle Johnson

Author:David Kyle Johnson [Johnson, David Kyle]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
Published: 2011-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

Moral Responsibility

For Aristotle (384–322 bce), voluntary action plays a crucial role in assigning moral blame. Two conditions need to be met to have voluntary action. First, the action must have its origin in the person. That is, the person must be able to control whether to perform an act. Second, the person has to be aware of what she is doing. If these conditions are met, then the person is morally responsible and deserves to receive praise or blame.2

Concerning the Inception dream team, some of us conclude: “Of course they’re responsible. Isn’t it obvious? They plan their dream crimes in advance; they have control over what they do in a dream; and they’re lucidly aware of what they’re doing while in a dream.” They certainly meet Aristotle’s conditions of voluntariness. For example, the act of coercing Fischer in the warehouse has its origin in both Cobb and Arthur. It’s up to them whether to carry out this dream act that they’ve probably rehearsed in the Paris workshop. So they have control and awareness of what they’re doing. Thus, their voluntary dream actions seem to warrant moral blame based on Aristotle’s account of moral responsibility.

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