RUcore Resource Object
RUcore Resource Object
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TitleIndividual responsibility for collectively committed harms
NameBazargan, Saba (author), McMahan, Jeff (chair), Husak, Doug (internal member), Coleman, Jules (internal member), Kutz, Christopher (outside member), Rutgers University, Graduate School - New Brunswick,
Degree Date2010
Date Created2010
SubjectPhilosophy,
War--Moral and ethical aspects,
Just war doctrine,
Ethics,
Collective behavior
DescriptionI develop an account that addresses the moral permissibility of and responsibility for participating in cooperative ventures in which each member contributes marginally to a substantial, aggregate harm. I argue that a basis for assessing the morally permissibility of and responsibility for participation in such collectives should not be limited to the intentions and the causal contributions of the participant, but should also include the purpose – what I call the ‘functional role’ of the individual in the collective venture. This account has the benefit of grounding a reductionist metaphysical analysis of cooperative collective action. After developing such an account, I apply it to a particular type of cooperative, collective activity, viz., warfare. The account of contributory moral responsibility I develop provides a basis by which to ascertain moral responsibility for marginal contributions by combatants participating in an unjust war.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
NoteIncludes abstract
NoteVita
Noteby Saba Bazargan
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttp://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.2/rucore10001600001.ETD.000052977
Languageeng
CollectionGraduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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