09 Moral Accountability Figures and tables

Moral agency, Moral Accountability, & Moral Standing Agent DecisionResults Moral Agency? Moral Accountability? Moral Standing? 2

Rewarding or blaming Amy InvestorsBoardCEOVPAmy ContractFactory ownerNew factoryProfit O →O → → → →O → →O → $$$$$$$$$$ InvestorsBoard CEOVPAmy Contract OwnerShoddy Disaster O →O → → → →O → →O → 

Problem with causes as sufficient conditions Joint production in the chemical factory 1 litre of chemical A + 1 litre of chemical B → 1 litre of product C + 1 litre of pollutant D Threshold of harm = 20 litres of D. 4

Problem with necessary conditions Causal chains InvestorsBoard CEOVPAmy Contract OwnerShoddy Disaster O →O → → → →O → →O → 

Problem with causes as necessary conditions Over-determination Victim is shot by two robbers simultaneously. Either shot is enough to kill victim. Neither is necessary. Therefore, neither robber causes death.

Problem with cause as a necessary part of a set of jointly sufficient conditions Committee decisions 7

Retrospective ethical approaches to moral accountability 8

Agent’s wrongful decision Excusing conditions ? Causally responsible ? Morally accountable in Retributive or Compensatory justice Not morally accountable Bad motivation ? Bad character ? Not morally accountable Morally accountable in Motivation-based reasoning Morally accountable in Identity-based reasoning NO YESNO YES NO YES

Moral standing

Focus on one special contract right Shareholder view of moral standing 11

Focus on explicit and implicit contracts Stakeholder view of moral standing Decision- maker OwnersEmployeesSuppliersCustomers Local community 12

E thical pluralist perspective Comprehensive view of moral standing Decision- maker OwnersEmployeesSuppliersCustomers Local community Global community PosterityEnvironmentSelf