Blameworthiness and Time

Abstract

The following theses concerning moral obligation are widely accepted. Future Obligation: it is possible that at some time you are morally obligated to do something that you have not yet done but will do at a future time. Obligation-Changeability: it is possible that although it is obligatory, at some specified time, for you to do something later, at a time pursuant to this specified time you no longer have this obligation. The author argues that analogous theses concerning moral blameworthiness are true too: it’s possible that you may now be blameworthy for something you have not yet done but will do, and that blameworthiness can change with the passage of time.