In Praise of Blame - Softcover

an elegant, tightly focused and carefully crafted theory of moral blame and moral blameworthiness...The structure and prosecution of the book's overall argument are admirably clear and methodologically reflective. Sher is impressively painstaking in setting out the conditions of success for a theory of this phenomemon and in attempting to show how his account answers to them. (Gary Watson, Mind)

Blame is an unpopular and neglected notion: it goes against the grain of a therapeutically-oriented culture and has been far less discussed by philosophers than such related notions as responsibility and punishment. This book seeks to show that neither the opposition nor the neglect is justified. The book's most important conclusion is that blame is inseperable from morality itself - that any considerations that justify us in accepting a set of moral principles must also call for the condemnation of those who violate the principles. Properly understood, blame and morality must stand or fall together.