Responsibility: Collective

Abstract

Collective responsibility is about the moral responsibilities of groups and their members for the good or bad consequences of group behavior, the nature of these responsibilities, and how they should be assigned. Since many bioethical decisions are made by groups – teams of physicians, hospital committees, or government bureaucracies – bioethicists cannot ignore the philosophical and ethical issues that arise when groups do wrong. A central question is whether responsibility in these cases belongs to the group itself or only to its members. But equally critical is the question of how group members share responsibility and how far responsibility extends. The topic of collective responsibility also includes the responsibility of individuals to form groups capable of meeting needs and alleviating harm – a concern that has become particularly important in an increasingly interdependent world. The obligations that group members owe to each other are another aspect of collective responsibility. Whether and to what extent citizens are responsible for each other’s well-being is a perennial topic of political and philosophical debate.