Group excuse from blameless ignorance

Jessica Brown

doi:10.5840/philtopics202149212

Group excuse from blameless ignorance

Jessica Brown^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

We routinely treat groups, such as governments and corporations, as agents with beliefs and aims who are morally responsible for their actions. For instance, we might blame the government for its response to the coronavirus pandemic. If groups are morally responsible agents, then it’s plausible that they can have an excuse for wrongdoing from ignorance in just the way individuals can. For instance, a government might attempt to excuse its performance in the coronavirus pandemic by saying that it didn’t know how infectious the new variant was. In this paper, I assume that groups are morally responsible agents to develop an account of what it is for a group to have an excuse from blameless ignorance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-16
Journal	Philosophical Topics
Volume	49
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5840/philtopics202149212
Publication status	Published - 21 Jul 2022

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10.5840/philtopics202149212

Brown_collective_ignorance_and_excuse_august_24th_2021_AAM
Copyright © 2022 Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.5840/philtopics202149212
Accepted author manuscript, 250 KB

Group responsibility: Group responsibility
Brown, J. A. (PI)
The Leverhulme Trust
1/09/21 → 31/08/23
Project: Fellowship

Cite this

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title = "Group excuse from blameless ignorance",

abstract = "We routinely treat groups, such as governments and corporations, as agents with beliefs and aims who are morally responsible for their actions. For instance, we might blame the government for its response to the coronavirus pandemic. If groups are morally responsible agents, then it{\textquoteright}s plausible that they can have an excuse for wrongdoing from ignorance in just the way individuals can. For instance, a government might attempt to excuse its performance in the coronavirus pandemic by saying that it didn{\textquoteright}t know how infectious the new variant was. In this paper, I assume that groups are morally responsible agents to develop an account of what it is for a group to have an excuse from blameless ignorance. ",

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Group excuse from blameless ignorance

Abstract

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Group responsibility: Group responsibility

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