Can Collectives Be Morally Responsible?Thomas Blanchard
20 June 2024
Thomas Blanchard (Universität Köln), 17:15 - 18:45, presents his project in the Interdisciplinary Research Seminar of the GRK "Collective Decision-Making”.
Location: Room 0079, Von-Melle-Park 5
Abstract
The idea that certain highly integrated social groups can be morally responsible for what they do in a non-redundant way – i.e. in a way that does not reduce to the moral responsibility of their members – has recently gained popularity among philosophers interested in group agency and collective responsibility. In this talk I will attempt to push back against this thesis. After critically reviewing some key arguments in its favor, I will sketch an argument against it that draws on discussions of the “manipulation argument” against source compatibilist accounts of free will. The general idea of the argument I will present is that because mental attitudes of social groups are controlled by those of their members, group attitudes lack a certain kind of autonomy required for moral responsibility.
Find the abstract as PDF here.