1 Blameworthiness and the Affective Account of Blame Neal A. Tognazzini neal.tognazzini@wwu.edu Penultimate version Final version in Philosophia http://philpapers.org/rec/TOGBAT Abstract One of the most influential accounts of blame – the affective account – takes its cue from P.F. Strawson’s discussion of the reactive attitudes. To blame someone, on this account, is to target her with resentment, indignation, or (in the case of self-blame) guilt. Given the connection between these emotions and the demand for regard that is arguably central to morality, the affective account is quite plausible. Recently, however, George Sher has argued that the affective account of blame, as understood both by Strawson himself and by contemporary Strawsonians, is inadequate because it cannot make sense of blameworthiness. In this paper I defend the affective account of blame against several of Sher’s arguments for this conclusion. In the process, I clarify the Strawsonian account of moral responsibility, and I discuss how the affective account of blame ought to be understood and articulated. 1. INTRODUCTION It is difficult to say precisely what it is to blame someone, but one promising account puts the emotions of resentment, indignation, and guilt at the core. According to this account – the affective account of blame – to blame just is to be in one of these emotional states. 1 Of course, these emotions are special: they are the clearest examples of P. F. Strawson’s reactive attitudes, and they “reflect an expectation of, and demand for, the manifestation of a certain degree of goodwill or regard on the part of other human beings toward ourselves” (Strawson 1962, p. 84). 2 We feel resentment toward those who have mistreated us, we feel indignation toward those who have mistreated our friends and loved ones, and we feel guilt when we mistreat others. This tight 1 In calling this ‘the affective account’, I do not mean to imply that resentment, indignation, and guilt can be understood as pure affect. See section 7 below. 2 All subsequent references to Strawson will be to this essay.