Abstract
In this article, we analyse whether it is possible to hold a loosely organised collective responsible for the effects it has on others. We consider the possibility of holding a loosely organised collective responsible by comparing it with a well-organised collective such as a corporation, a joint action (a collective lacking a formal organisation) and an aggregate. We explore the concept of responsibility of a loosely organised collective by analysing a concrete example: the responsibility of the major oil producers for climate change. We will argue that it is possible to apply the concept of responsibility to such loosely organised collectives. To understand this responsibility it is necessary to decouple the concept of responsibility from the concept of acting and to develop forward-looking (prospective) ethics. We will argue that individuals and organisations belonging to a loosely organised collective have a joint responsibility: to some extent, they are each other’s brother’s keeper.
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- 1.
The phone-hacking scandal in the UK and the network corruption in Roermond are described and analysed in Chap. 8 of this volume: Willeke Slingerland. “Norms for Networks: a Contractarian Approach to Corruption.”
- 2.
This is essentially the social dilemma described by Hardin (1968) that is known as the Tragedy of the Commons. As such, Hardin refers to the broadening of the notion of responsibility, the idea we are advocating here. In the subtitle to the article (Hardin 1968). Hardin states: “The (…) problem has no technical solution, it requires a fundamental extension in morality.”
- 3.
- 4.
This case is taken from (Wempe 2010, 282).
- 5.
In this article we have refer to Held, Gilbert, Kutz and May.
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Wempe, J., Slingerland, W. (2017). My Brother’s Keeper: A New Phase in the Debate on Corporate Responsibility. In: Rendtorff, J. (eds) Perspectives on Philosophy of Management and Business Ethics. Ethical Economy, vol 51. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46973-7_7
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