Economics Dictionary of Arguments

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Responsibility: Responsibility is the state of being accountable for something. It is the obligation to do something or to take care of something. See also Duties, Community, Behavior, Actions.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Peter Singer on Responsibility - Dictionary of Arguments

I 220
Historical Responsibility/Climate Change/P. Singer: is the principle of "the polluter pays" applicable in the case of climate change? In the case of pollution, it surely is: a chemical company that emits toxins must be held accountable. In the case of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it can be observed that it is still present after a century. In this case, however, the polluter is not easily identified on an individual basis.
>Climate Change
, >Climate Costs, >Justice.
I 221
However, it is possible to assign percentages of pollution to countries.
>Emission permits, >Emission permits trading.
Problem: when it comes to centuries, states are not to be regarded as constant individuals because the political map has changed.
>Generational justice.
One argument: one sometimes hears the argument that industrialisation has helped the whole world to increase prosperity, why should one not also bear the environmental damage together?
>Progress, >History, >Technology.
Vs: the concomitant rise in international trade, however, had made greater use of the industrialized nations.
>Trade, >Markets, >World Economy.
I 222
Argument: one sometimes hears the argument that the nations that caused them were not aware of the harmful effects.
>Nations.
Singer: That's true, before the 1970s, global warming was not seriously investigated.
I 223
Singer: one has to take into account the size of the population. Even if we can only apply the principle of "You destroyed it, you have to fix it" when the biggest polluter knows about it, it remains that the United States and Europe must do most to repair the damage.
I 231
Climate change/responsibility/individual/Singer, P.: what can I do as an individual? If I change my own behaviour, I can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases astonishingly far. However, this makes no measurable difference on a global scale. But if everyone did it, the effect would be measurable. Then it seems obvious that it is wrong for me personally not to abide by it.
I 232
Question: How about if I orientate my behaviour towards that of other individuals and behave badly, as long as not too many others behave badly as well?
Consequentialism: in this question, there is a difference between consequentialists and non-consequentialists.
>Consequentialism.
Rule Utilitarianism: would say: the best rule for the individual is not to commit an offence or not to put up with any damage to the community, even if it is not immediately measurable.
>Utilitarianism.
Utilitarianism/David Lyons: (D. Lyons 1965(1)): Thesis: In such cases, Rule Utilitarianism coincides with Action Utilitarianism. Both welcome and reject the same solutions.
R. M. Hare: claims the same with reference to Kant's appeal to the idea of a universal right (> categorical imperative) and argues that this principle leads to utilitarianism.(2)
I 233
Brad Hooker: (B. Hooker 2000)(3)): Hooker argues for a version of rule utilitarianism that prevents rules from becoming too complicated. He believes that we are acting wrongly if we break a rule that is part of a set of rules that, if internalised by an overwhelming majority of the population, would have the best consequences. If the rules became too complex, people would find it hard to internalize them. The cost of educating people would be too high.
>Responsibility/Parfit, Responsibility/Ethics/Glover, J.

1. D. Lyons, Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism, Oxford, 1965.
2. R. M. Hare, „Could Kant have been a Utilitarian?“ Utilitas 5 (1993), pp. 1-16.
3. B. Hooker, Ideal Code, Real World (Oxford, 2000).

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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.

SingerP I
Peter Singer
Practical Ethics (Third Edition) Cambridge 2011

SingerP II
P. Singer
The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically. New Haven 2015


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