ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the ethical impact of forgetting. The widespread claim that we cannot be morally responsible for forgetting because forgetting is outside of our control is based on a misunderstanding of the psychology of forgetting. Sometimes we do have control over our forgetting. When forgetting is under our control, there is no question that it is the proper object of praise and blame. Nevertheless, we can also be morally responsible for forgetting something when it is beyond our control that we forget that thing. The literature contains three accounts of the blameworthiness of forgetting over which the agent has no control—the tracing account, the liberalized awareness condition, and attributionism. I spell out the pros and cons of these accounts and propose a view that endorses the tracing account for some kinds of harmful forgetting and attributionism for others.
