Untertitel (77)
0:06Jo the First is a ruthless dictator
who rules his country with an iron fist.
0:13Whenever he wants something,
everyone hurries to appease him.
0:17And since complainers are
permanently banished,
0:20Jo’s terrified servants treat his every
whim as a wise and noble decision.
0:26To most onlookers,
his rule appears cruel and unjust.
0:30But his beloved son JoJo
doesn’t see any issues.
0:34This life is all JoJo's ever known,
0:37and he never witnesses any fear from
Jo’s subjects or violence against them.
0:43All JoJo sees is his father’s strength,
and his subjects’ obedience and praise.
0:51After spending his entire
childhood in the castle,
0:54JoJo grows up to inherit his father’s role
and his style of rule.
0:59And just as with Jo the First,
it’s clear that JoJo’s actions are wrong.
1:05But his case raises a question
about morality
1:08that can also shed light
on less extreme cases:
1:12given JoJo’s unusual upbringing,
1:14does he bear full moral responsibility
for his actions?
1:19Philosophers Gary Watson
and Harry Frankfurt would say yes.
1:24According to their Deep Self View,
1:27people are morally responsible for actions
that stem from their true self,
1:33meaning actions that reflect
their deepest values and commitments.
1:37They believe people are less
morally responsible
1:40for actions performed under
the influence of external forces,
1:44such as committing a crime
under duress or while intoxicated.
1:49But JoJo has no such excuse.
1:53His actions are the product
of his values, and as such,
1:57Deep Self theorists would argue
that he’s responsible for them.
2:02But what if JoJo’s values
have been compromised?
2:06JoJo might be a monster, but he was
raised in a very atypical environment.
2:11Is he really just as responsible
for his crimes
2:14as someone who had a normal childhood
and then became a cruel dictator?
2:19And if JoJo isn’t to blame for who he is,
2:23how can we blame him for what he does?
2:27This is the argument of philosopher
Susan Wolf,
2:30who invented JoJo’s case.
2:33Wolf believes that even though
JoJo’s actions do reflect his deep self,
2:39when determining moral responsibility,
2:42we also need to consider how
someone’s deep self came to be.
2:47And in JoJo's situation,
2:49Wolf believes that even if JoJo
is acting on his own values,
2:54his upbringing makes him less
responsible for his cruelty.
2:59Wolf’s logic seems pretty
reasonable in JoJo’s case.
3:03But if everyone’s deepest values
are shaped by their upbringing,
3:07does that mean nobody is responsible
for their actions?
3:12This is the attitude
held by incompatibilists.
3:16These philosophers believe
that if everything is predetermined
3:20by factors like
our environment or biology,
3:23then no one is truly
morally responsible for anything.
3:28By contrast, compatibilist philosophers
3:31argue that even if our decisions are
the inevitable result of past events,
3:36we can still be held responsible for them.
3:39The debate between these factions
has been raging for centuries,
3:44but Wolf created JoJo’s case
to focus on a different question.
3:50JoJo had no meaningful opportunity
to learn right from wrong.
3:55And since he continues
to be cruel even as an adult,
3:59it would seem JoJo also lacks the capacity
to self-reflect and change his values.
4:06To Wolf, this indicates that JoJo
lacks basic moral competence.
4:11If he doesn’t know right from wrong
and can no longer learn the difference,
4:16surely it's misplaced
to fully blame him for his actions.
4:21But this argument raises
another important question:
4:25even with this horrible upbringing,
4:27was JoJo’s moral incompetence
truly inevitable?
4:32Let’s imagine JoJo had a sister
who was raised in the same environment
4:37but developed different values.
4:40If JoJa rejected their father’s tyranny,
4:43this suggests that JoJo
could have done the same—
4:47an outcome that seemingly
increases his moral responsibility.
4:53Similarly, what if a rogue court member
tried to teach young JoJo
4:59about justice and morality,
5:01but he still chose tyranny?
5:06it seems like the more chances JoJo has
to develop moral competence,
5:11the less we can excuse his actions.
5:15Ultimately, it's up to you to decide.
5:19How should we determine
moral responsibility?
5:23And is JoJo’s tyrannical
nature truly inevitable—
5:28or can our understanding of right
and wrong transcend our upbringing?
