Mopping the Floors or Putting a Man on the Moon? Self‐Narrative and the Scope of Individual Moral Responsibility for Collective Actions

Bibliographic Data

ID6325897
AuthorsSamuel A Mortimer (0000-0002-4771-5543, Graduate School of Management Kyoto University Kyoto Japan, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume53
Issue4
Pages321-332
Publication date2025-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy & Public Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0048-3915 • E-ISSN: 1088-4963
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/papa.70002
OpenAlexW4412063339
LanguageEN
References cited30

Much of what we do, we do together. This raises the question of what moral responsibility individuals have for collective actions. Recent discussions have largely ignored the psychology of participants in collective behavior. Some people act through their collective as if it were a tool; some see themselves as mere cogs in a machine; others see themselves as helping their collective achieve its ends. I argue that these perspectives affect an individual's moral responsibility for collective actions. These perspectives vary independently of the individual's level of power, causal impact, or hierarchical position in the collective. Instead, they reflect the self‐narratives people adopt as they engage in collective activity. Narratives play an important role in coordinating collective behavior; they also have a deep and pervasive impact on individuals' experiences and intentions. I build on these considerations to present a narrative‐based account of individual moral responsibility for collective actions

Art · Astrobiology · Environmental ethics · Literature · Moral responsibility · Narrative · Physics · Political science · Scope (computer science · Computer Science · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology