Blame Its Nature and Norms [Paperback]

One mark of interpersonal relationships is a tendency to blame. But what precise evaluations and responses constitute blame? Is it most centrally a judgment, or is it an emotion, or something else? Does blame express a demand, or embody a protest, or does it simply mark an impaired relationship? What accounts for its force or sting, and how similar is it to punishment?

The essays in this volume explore answers to these (and other) questions about the nature of blame, but they also explore the various norms that govern the propriety of blame. The traditional question is whether anyone ever deserves to be blamed, but the essays here provide a fresh perspective by focusing on blame from the blamer's perspective instead. Is our tendency to blame a vice, something we should work to replace with more humane ways of relating, or does it rather lie at the very heart of a commitment to morality? What can we legitimately expect of each other, and in general, what sort of attitude do would-be blamers need to have in order to have the standing to blame? Hypocritical or self-righteous blame seems objectionable, but why?

The contributions to this volume aim to give us a fuller picture of the nature and norms of blame, and more generally of the promises and perils of membership in the human moral community.

Chapter 1: The Contours of Blame
D. Justin Coates and Neal A. Tognazzini

Chapter 2: Moral Blame and Moral Protest
Angela M. Smith

Chapter 3: Wrongdoing and Relationships: The Problem of the Stranger
George Sher

Chapter 4: The Expressive Function of Blame
Christopher Bennett

Chapter 5: Interpreting Blame
T. M. Scanlon

Chapter 6: Blame and Punishment
David Shoemaker

Chapter 7: Directed Blame and Conversation
Michael McKenna

Chapter 8: Taking Demands Out of Blame
Coleen Macnamara

Chapter 9: Civilizing Blame
Victoria McGeer

Chapter 10: Free Will Skepticism, Blame, and Oblil,