Think about this situation: a father and his son are playing with a football in the garden. The boy kicks the ball and it rolls on the lawn. Suddenly their dog appears. It jumps along to catch the ball. The father yells at the dog, telling it not to bite the football, but too late. The dog wants to be part of the game. It catches the ball, it bites and the ball bursts. The boy cries and the father yells at the dog. The dog cowers and takes its tail between its legs. The boy and the father pity the dog, who they love, and now engage in a new game with a dog-friendly ball instead.
How is this situation accomplished? Is it all about human actions? Is it the ball that rolls that makes the situation? Is it all about the dog’s behaviour? Where is the agency? Who is morally responsible for what? How can we analytically approach such situations? These kinds of questions are what this essay is about.