The object of wish is an end. The objects of deliberation and choice are the means to that end. Since actions are concerned with means, it is clear that actions are based on choice and are thus voluntary. In any given situation, men voluntarily choose the means they apply. It is always in their power to act or to refrain from acting. Every man is personally responsible for his acts.
This conception of personal moral responsibility is supported by the empirical experience of many people, including judges and legislators.
Laws reward moral acts and punish immoral, which would be foolish if men didn't choose to act as they do. Moreover, the law penalizes evil doers, but not those who have acted involuntarily due to compulsion or ignorance (i.e., in cases where there are extenuating circumstances). The agent is held responsible, however, in situations where it is fair to claim he is the cause of his own ignorance (e.g., in cases of drunkenness).
Socrates used to say that no man is willingly bad. This is false, unless we claim that man is not the source of his own actions, but we have already shown that human actions in the moral sphere are voluntary.
Some thinkers try to escape the question of personal moral responsibility by saying that men seek their apparent good and cannot be blamed for holding erroneous ideas of what is good. In our view a man is as much responsible for what appears good to him as he is for his actions.
