Owning failure: reason-responsiveness and responsibility for failed actions

Abstract On some views of responsibility, the core case of actions for which we can be responsible are intentional actions or actions done for reasons. But our ordinary understanding of responsibility is broader: it includes responsibility for at least some failed actions when the failure is unintentional or inadvertent. I propose an account of responsibility for such failings based on the notion of control we have over our actions through skills and abilities. We are responsible for what we do, if an action is an exercise of the agent’s relevant abilities, be it successful or failed.