Group Responsibility

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. Introduction: The Problem of ‘Collective’ or ‘Group’ Responsibility

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 1-8

3. Locating Questions of Group Responsibility: A Troubling Case

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 9-38

4. Developing an Alternative Approach: A Lesson from Social Psychology

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 39-57

5. Defining Identity Groups: The Importance of Narrative

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 58-90

6. Broadening Participation: Arendt and May on Shared Responsibility

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 91-122

7. A Narrative Account of Shared Responsibility

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 123-159

8. Conclusion: Extending the Narrative Account

   • Cassie Striblen

   Pages 160-165

9. Back Matter

   Pages 166-184

   PDF

Drawing on work in social psychology, narrative ethics, and feminist philosophy, the author presents a new account which answers the standard objections while also giving practical guidance to individuals who take their group-related responsibilities seriously.

• Arendt
• ethics
• philosophy
• psychology
• social psychology

Since World War II philosophers and others have sporadically and not altogether successfully wrestled with the moral problem presented by group responsibility for such atrocities as the Holocaust, 'ethnic cleansing,' racial violence and other great harms. Skillfully and selectively discussing the merits and serious drawbacks of some of the key contributions to this debate, Cassie Striblen defends a plausible yet demanding account of shared responsibility among members of the 'white' identity group based on insights from social psychology and narrative theory. Her new and subtle proposal should do much to bring serious discussion of group responsibility back into focus and sets a new standard for future debate on the topic. Lawrence Jost, University of Cincinnati, USA

• West Chester University of Pennsylvania, USA

  Cassie Striblen

Cassie Striblen is an assistant professor of Philosophy at West Chester University near Philadelphia. She has published on group responsibility with the Journal of Social Philosophy and Social Theory and Practice. Before entering academia, Dr. Striblen taught public school in New Orleans and served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan.

Policies and ethics