On Being Responsible or Irresponsible

Abstract

When I describe someone or something as irreverent, I need not be criticizing. But when I describe a voter or their vote, an investor or their investment, as irresponsible, I am thereby criticizing. Why do charges of irresponsibility differ in this way from charges of irreverence? What is it about irresponsibility that makes its attribution always and everywhere a criticism? The present paper addresses that question.