Moral Address

Abstract

A significant theme in the work of Gary Watson is the idea that responsibility relations involve the addressing of moral demands to other agents. But both the nature of moral address, and its bearing on other moral debates, remain somewhat obscure. This chapter offers an interpretation of moral address in terms of the Strawson-style reactive attitudes. On the basis of this interpretation, it goes on to explore the significance of moral address for questions about the conditions of moral responsibility and about the ultimate nature of moral requirements. In the process, some particular Watsonian themes are discussed: the nature of the moral demands commonly associated with moral address; the fact that moral address frequently turns on interpersonal accountability; and the limits of moral address, seen in the requirement that it be directed to individuals who have the capacity to understand and respond to such demands.