Not in their name : are citizens culpable for their states' actions? /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Lawford-Smith, Holly, author.
Edition:First edition.
Imprint:Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2019.
©2019
Description:viii, 185 pages ; 23 cm.
Language:English
Series:New topics in applied philosophy
New topics in applied philosophy.
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11803752
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ISBN:0198833660
9780198833666
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-181) and index.
Summary:There are many actions that we attribute, at least colloquially, to states. Given their size and influence, states are able to inflict harm far beyond the reach of a single individual. But there is a great deal of unclarity about exactly who is implicated in that kind of harm, and how we should think about responsibility for it. It is a commonplace assumption that democratic publics both authorize and have control over what their states do; that their states act in their name and on their behalf. In Not In Their Name, Holly Lawford-Smith approaches these questions from the perspective of social ontology, asking whether the state is a collective agent, and whether ordinary citizens are members of that agent. If it is, and they are, there's a clear case for democratic collective culpability. She explores alternative conceptions of the state and of membership in the state; alternative conceptions of collective agency applied to the state; the normative implications of membership in the state; and both culpability (from the inside) and responsibility (from the outside) for what the state does. Ultimately, Lawford-Smith argues for the exculpation of ordinary citizens and the inculpation of those working in public services.

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Call Number: JN906 .L38 2019
c.1 Available Loan period: standard loan  Scan and Deliver Request for Pickup Need help? - Ask a Librarian