MoralResponsibilityand the MajorDepressive Disorder

This article examines the extent to which people suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) should be considered free and morally responsible for their wrongdoings. While moral responsibility literature often deals with delusions and addictions, MDD has not received the attention it deserves. I argue against the view that MDD automatically significantly mitigates (or completely exempts) moral responsibility for wrongdoings. I examine two different approaches to moral responsibility (a control-based theory and a “pluralist”-theory) and suggest that in most cases exemption is not warranted. The first section provides a short overview of the notions of moral responsibility and reactive attitudes. Next, I point out the various effects that depression inflicts on a person’s agency and the complexities of assessing how depression might shape our responsibility attitudes toward depressed people. Then, I examine David Shoemaker’s account of the moral responsibility of depressed agents. I also examine how a reasons-responsive (control-based) theory of moral responsibility might deal with depressed people. Finally, I argue that, when expressing blame toward depressed people, we need to find a balance between two points. One the one hand, expressions of blame signal to depressed people that they are members of our moral community. This membership is crucial for the development of their agential capacities. On the other hand, depressed people are prone to unjustified self-blame and react strongly to emotionally expressed blame from third parties.