Comment Re:Rediculous question (Score 1) 161
I know this is extremely late, but I was out of town :)
You are talking about "taking responsibility", I am talking about "having responsibility". Now let me start off by saying that the concept that anyone has a responsibility to do anything is completely subjective. That said, almost all people believe that certain people have certain responsibilities in certain situations.
For example, most people believe that a man *has* a responsibility to support his children. They can choose to "take responsibility" or not, but most people would say that he *has* the responsibility, whether he "takes it" or not. A man who didn't "take responsibility" for supporting his children would be said to be "neglecting his responsibilities", and therefore would be forced to pay child support.
Free will has everything to do taking responsibility, but it has nothing to do with having responsibility. The choices a man makes only tell whether a man has lived up to his responsibilities, not whether he ever had them.
Now I don't happen to believe that an artist, author, or writer has a moral responsibility to his patrons, but some people do. Either way, it is definitely not the artist/author/writer's choice whether to have a moral responsibility. Certainly he has a belief about whether he has one or not, as does every observer, but that's not a choice.
In short, a game developer can't choose whether or not to have a responsibility. The very fact that he's a game developer means he either has or doesn't have (depending on your beliefs) that responsibility. (Obviously he can choose not to be a game developer, but then it's no longer a game developer making that choice).
See what I'm saying?
You are talking about "taking responsibility", I am talking about "having responsibility". Now let me start off by saying that the concept that anyone has a responsibility to do anything is completely subjective. That said, almost all people believe that certain people have certain responsibilities in certain situations.
For example, most people believe that a man *has* a responsibility to support his children. They can choose to "take responsibility" or not, but most people would say that he *has* the responsibility, whether he "takes it" or not. A man who didn't "take responsibility" for supporting his children would be said to be "neglecting his responsibilities", and therefore would be forced to pay child support.
Free will has everything to do taking responsibility, but it has nothing to do with having responsibility. The choices a man makes only tell whether a man has lived up to his responsibilities, not whether he ever had them.
Now I don't happen to believe that an artist, author, or writer has a moral responsibility to his patrons, but some people do. Either way, it is definitely not the artist/author/writer's choice whether to have a moral responsibility. Certainly he has a belief about whether he has one or not, as does every observer, but that's not a choice.
In short, a game developer can't choose whether or not to have a responsibility. The very fact that he's a game developer means he either has or doesn't have (depending on your beliefs) that responsibility. (Obviously he can choose not to be a game developer, but then it's no longer a game developer making that choice).
See what I'm saying?
