David Shoemaker, “Responsibility from the Margins” (Oxford UP, 2015)
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What everyday moral intuition does the episode begin with (the foot‑stepping example)?
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Welcome to the New Books and Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talis, I'm a professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co host the channel with Carrie Figter. Carrie is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. Today my guest is Professor David Schumacher. His new book is titled Responsibility from the Margins is published by Oxford University Press. Schumacher is associate professor in the Department of Philosophy. And the Murphy Institute. of Tulane University. Moral life is infused with emotionally charged interactions. A stranger carelessly steps on my foot. Not only feel the pain in my foot I am also affronted by her carelessness. Whereas the former may cause me to win.
The latter arouses resentment. Which I may communicate. by an emotionally toned protest. Um excuse me. Or just hey. With such a protest I, as In an admittedly small way. Hold the stranger responsible for what she's done. But of course there are cases where the stranger who steps on my foot does not. manifest and objectionable carelessness. After all, she may have been pushed. Or perhaps she had been feeling faint. These conditions mitigate resentment. They render my emotional response unfitting. and in need of revision. Yeah. None of this should come as a surprise, in fact it should sound trivial. Distinctively philosophical questions arise, however, when we consider cases where agents are in certain ways compromised or impaired.
Imagine that the stranger is in the grip of dementia. Or in a fit of rage. That has rendered her unable to control the motion of her limbs. Would resentment be fitting in these kinds of cases? Now, what if the stranger is cognitively incapable of empathy and so is unable to see what reason she has to avoid stepping on my foot? What then? In short, we may ask when certain facts seem about the condition and capacities of individuals Render them wholly unfitting targets for responsibility responses such as resentment. What are we morally to make of such agents? In his book Responsibility from the Margins, David Schumacher proposes a tripartite view of responsibility that can make sense of our responses to per persons whose agency is compromised.
The book brings together high level philosophy with a deep appreciation for the empirical details concerning the various forms of marginal agency that are discussed. It's a lot to talk about here. So let's turn to the interview. Hello, David Shoemaker. Hi Bob. How you doing today?
Very good. How you doing?
Oh doing fine. Thank you for joining me for uh a discussion of your book on New Books in Philosophy.
Thanks a lot for having me. Great privilege.
Great. Thank you, listeners, for tuning in to our podcast.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What everyday moral intuition does the episode begin with (the foot‑stepping example)?
0:00–7:24
2
How do dementia, rage, and lack of empathy change our emotional response to wrongdoing?
7:24–13:31
3
What is the Strawsonian framework and why does the host link it to responsibility?
13:31–22:21
4
How does Shoemaker’s tripartite view (character, judgment, regard) explain responsibility?
22:21–33:37
5
What empirical marginal‑agent cases (depression, autism, intellectual disability) test the tripartite theory?
33:37–46:15
6
How are psychopaths used to illustrate ambivalence in responsibility judgments?
46:15–56:46
7
What role do history and personal narrative play in assessing responsibility for dementia patients?
56:46–1:07:05
8
What future research directions does Shoemaker propose for anger, forgiveness, and empathy?
1:07:05–1:09:51
Speakers
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Rivka Weinberg, "The Meaning of It All: Ultimate Meaning, Everyday Meaning, Cosmic Meaning, Death, and Time" (Oxford UP, 2026)
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