Approach

Title: Approach

Research Question: How can we quantify responsibility and blame in a structured way?

Methodology: The authors propose a structural-model approach to define responsibility and blame. They extend the causality definition introduced by Halpern and Pearl [2001a] to include the degree of responsibility of an agent. They consider counterfactual dependence and introduce the concept of degree of blame, which takes into account an agent's epistemic state.

Results: The authors present a definition of responsibility that allows for a distinction between different levels of responsibility. For example, they show that in an election where one candidate wins by a landslide, each voter's responsibility for the outcome is less than if the victory had been closer.

Implications: This approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of responsibility and blame. It can help in situations where traditional all-or-nothing concepts of causality do not provide the necessary distinctions. For instance, in legal or ethical contexts, this approach could be used to assign blame more fairly and accurately.

Conclusion: The authors have presented a structural-model approach to define responsibility and blame, which takes into account the degree of responsibility of an agent. This approach can provide a more nuanced understanding of responsibility and blame, particularly in situations where traditional causality concepts do not suffice.

Link to Article: https://arxiv.org/abs/0312038v1 Authors: arXiv ID: 0312038v1