Eliza Wells

People sometimes attempt to avoid blame with the following excuse: “I didn’t know I was doing anything wrong; I was just doing my job.” I argue that this excuse points towards a distinctive form of genuinely exculpatory ignorance. Complying with social role norms involves following deliberative norms that can explain agents’ claims of ignorance and mitigate their blameworthiness. My account of this experience makes a surprising contribution to the debate over when ignorance excuses. If we accept that nonculpable moral ignorance excuses, my argument highlights a novel form of ignorance that can be experienced by role occupants. On some views, however, what matters is being motivated by the right reasons (having a “good will”), so even nonculpably morally ignorant agents are blameworthy because they are not appropriately responsive to moral considerations. My account challenges the accepted view that having a good will just is responsiveness to moral reasons. I offer role occupants as a case study of moral ignorance with a good will. The fact that our social roles can lead to exculpatory ignorance in this ordinary and pervasive way opens up new territory for theories of moral responsibility.

This chapter argues that Mormon theology has distinctive internal resources for feminist philosophy. Among Christian movements, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the broader Mormon tradition have unusual views about the nature of God. Not only is God physically embodied and engaged in relationships with other Gods, but Godhood is also a status towards which each person aims. The chapter argues that taking these ideas seriously points towards a relational model of moral agency—one that is friendlier to contemporary feminism than to traditional Western thought. Using these resources, we can identify and further develop feminist commitments within Mormon epistemology and ethics. For philosophers of religion, this project demonstrates the rich possibilities of engaging some of the more unusual aspects of Mormon theology with analytic philosophy. Additionally, it sets Mormonism up as a potentially surprising ally to feminist philosophers. Finally, a relational, embodied Mormon theology has internal resources, and a mandate, to alter existing gendered practices in the LDS Church.