With Group Power Comes Great (Individual) Responsibility
20 POL. PHIL. & ECON. 22 (2021)
19 Pages Posted: 15 Oct 2020 Last revised: 3 Apr 2021
Date Written: August 26, 2020
Abstract
A common problem identified in the literature on the ethics of collective action is the so-called "responsibility deficit," which occurs when no individual seems to be morally responsible for a collective action that causes harm. The most common philosophical solution is to assign "collective responsibility," or to hold the collective itself -- as an entity independent of its members -- responsible. This article argues against collective responsibility but articulates an alternative for filling the responsibility deficit: a heightened standard of moral care for individuals working within groups, based on their knowledge and authority within that group. One particularly important form of heightened responsibility I call "caretaker responsibility," or the responsibility to ensure that the institutional design of a group permits it to operate in morally careful ways.
Keywords: Collective responsibility
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