%0 Journal Article
%T The Bull in the China Shop: A Discussion of an Ambiguity Within Pettit¡¯s Theory of Freedom as Discursive Control (Book Review)
%A Steven J Youngblood
%J Cosmos and History : the Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy
%D 2005
%I Cosmos and History Publishing Co-op.
%X A discussion of Pettit, Philip, A Theory of Freedom: From the Psychology to the Politics of Agency, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2001. In Philip Pettit¡¯s ¡°A Theory of Freedom¡±, Pettit claims that being free to do something is being held responsible for what we do; so whatever theory of freedom we develop must allow the agent to be held responsible for the free actions that they do. In this paper I am going to examine Pettit¡¯s claim about what a satisfactory theory of freedom would require, and discuss several ambiguities within the theory. However, within this reading two major interpretations may be taken: the first of which suggests that freedom can only be freedom when there is a moral ¡®ought¡¯ involved; the second is a more generous reading in which freedom includes all realms of responsibility.
%K Free Will
%K Value Theory
%K Pettit
%K Discursive Control
%U http://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1/11