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

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:	Citizenship -- Moral and ethical aspects. Citizenship -- Moral and ethical aspects.
Format:	Print Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11803752

Hidden Bibliographic Details
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.

Description
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.
Physical Description:	viii, 185 pages ; 23 cm.
Bibliography:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-181) and index.
ISBN:	0198833660 9780198833666