On Being “Blameless Among One’s Contemporaries”

Abstract People often seem to excuse wrong actions that were typical of the societies in which they occurred, especially societies in the past. This has been used as a premise by those who argue that moral ignorance excuses: the agent who, for example, kept slaves in the ancient Middle East was often blameless because he did not know what he was doing was wrong. This chapter argues against this view using premises about cases of people who mistakenly believe that what they are doing is wrong, and it argues that “moral ignorance excuses” is not even a good explanation for some cases in which people are blamed less for sins that are typical of their generation. It then attempts to point out a general direction for seeking an alternative explanation.