A Plea For Excuses

A Plea for Excuses
When do we excuse conduct?

In general, when one is accused of having done something, which is bad and so on. Then the excuse
constitutes a defence of the conduct.
One way to say yes, X did do A but that it was the right thing to do, in general or under specific
circumstances. This is a justification of the action, to give reasons. Accept responsibility but deny
that it was bad.
Another way it wasnt a good thing to do but it isnt fair simply to say that X did A, that there were
circumstances such as coercion involved. Or to say that it isnt fair to say that X did A, could have
been unintentional. Or that it isnt fair to say that X did A, he may have wanted to do something
different and A was incidental. Accept that it was bad but deny responsibility.
Justifications can be kept distinct from excuses. You dropped the tray: in this case the defence rests
upon a need to more fully describe the event. But one can justify But an emotional storm was
going to break out, or one can make an excuse There was a wasp.
Many terms are used to talk about defence, or justification.
What is it to do an action in philosophy?
Problems encountered in the philosophical study of conduct:
The problem of freedom to say we acted freely is not much more than to say that we didnt act unfreely. Only rules out some other possibilities. Freedom is not a name for a characteristic of actions
but the name of a dimension in which actions are assessed. The problem of freedom is disposed with
by ruling out exceptions.
Responsibility would here be better placed to play this role than freedom. To make an excuse is to
deny or evade responsibility, for the most part. But even this is a problem. If i say i was clumsy, or
tactless, im not really denying responsibility. If i plead coercion or choicelessness i am not denying
responsibility exactly (it would be more like a justification), in fact i may accept responsibility
outright but i would still have an excuse.
Important for ethics, and also attractive methodologically if one is to proceed from ordinary
language what should we say when, why and what do we mean by it?
Justifications for this endeavour:
-
Words are our tools, and we should use clean tools. What do words mean and what do they
not mean?
Words are not facts or things. They need to be examined separately from the world.
Our common stock of words embodies the distinctions we have found worth drawing and
the connections we have found worth making. Defence of ordinary language philosophy?
Its important to note that when we talk about words or meanings, we also talk about the realities
that they refer to. Better to use a term like linguistic phenomenology. A good site for field work in
philosophy.
Snags in linguistic philosophy:
-
The Loose Usage Snag do we all say the same things in the same situations?
The Last Word Snag why should what we ordinarily say be the only or the best or final way
of putting it?
Loose Usage: Most of the time, when we talk about something, we find that what we wanted to say
did not completely coincide with what we said, because no situation is ever completely described.
The more we say about a specific situation, the less we tend to disagree. However, sometimes, we
do find ultimate disagreements.
Why does this bother us? I may describe something as X and you as Y maybe our schemes are
different. But they may be equally consistent and good. The point is that we know why we disagree.
Loose talk is not a snag, but an exciting reason to study language.
Last Word: So ordinary language has no claim to be the last word. But it is something, and something
rich and filled with learning over generations. Sure, it contains things like error and fantasy which
make it through analysis, but why should we not detect it when it does? Ordinary language is not the
last word, but it is the first word.
The Law and Psychology the fleas on the back of ordinary language.
What are the methods we can use to examine excuses? An ability to imagine a variety of situations
and to look at the expressions we use in them.
-
Meaning of terms dictionary usage. Many terms related to excuses turn out to be adverbs.
The tenor of excuses tends to be that i did it, but only in a way. Also abstract nouns and
prepositions.
Looking at Law. Useful list of recognized pleas. In legal cases: a black and white decision
must be reached; charges and things have to be categorized; and precedents must be
respected.
Psychology notes some varieties of action and behaviour that may not be noted by
ordinary language.
Types of results to be gained from studying excuses:

-
No modification without aberration.

Limitation of application.
The importance of negations and opposites
The machinery of action
Standards of the unacceptable
Combination, dissociation and complication
Regina V. Finney
Small distinctions, and big too
The exact phrase and its place in the sentence

The style of performance
What modifies what?
Trailing clouds of etymology
Science, psychology

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A Plea for Excuses

When do we excuse conduct?

Types of results to be gained from studying excuses:

No modification without aberration.

The exact phrase and its place in the sentence

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