As everyone knows, Roseanne Barr posted a racist tweet. She claimed that the sleeping medication Ambien affected her behavior, but her show got cancelled anyway.
Now, I think this scandal raises some surprisingly interesting philosophical questions about moral responsibility and the nature of self-control. What follows is a dialogue between two hypothetical speakers exploring some of these questions. To be clear, this is a post about philosophy, not about Roseanne. I don't know or care if she really took any Ambien or what her views on race are.
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ROSE: "Roseanne's Ambien Defence is absurd. Ambien doesn't make you racist
. It doesn't put racist thoughts in your head. She came up with that tweet all on her own." ANNE: "But what if the Ambien affected her judgment, her ability to inhibit impulses? Sure, the idea of writing that tweet didn't come from the drug, but maybe if she hadn't ...
