Complicity

We live in a morally flawed world. Our lives are complicated by what other people do, and by the harms that flow from our social, economic and political institutions. Our relations as individuals to these collective harms constitute the domain of complicity. This book examines the relationship between collective responsibility and individual guilt. It presents a rigorous philosophical account of the nature of our relations to the social groups in which we participate, and uses that account in a discussion of contemporary moral theory. Christopher Kutz shows that the two prevailing theories of moral philosophy, Kantianism and consequentialism, both have difficulties resolving problems of complicity. He then argues for a richer theory of accountability in which any real understanding of collective action not only allows but demands individual responsibility.

• The book provides an innovative critique of the (Anglo-American) criminal law of complicity and conspiracy, and of corporate shareholder liability • It develops a sophisticated analysis of co-operation and collective action, and applies that analysis in an examination of contemporary ethical theory • Richly grounded in examples drawn from literature, history and law

Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; 2. The deep structure of individual accountability; 3. Acting together; 4. Moral accountability and collective action; 5. Complicitous accountability; 6. Problematic accountability: facilitation, unstructured collective harm and organizational dysfunction; 7. Complicity, conspiracy and shareholder liability; 8. Conclusion: accountability and the possibility of community; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

‘Kutz’s work is an important analysis of an important topic …’

– Garrath Williams, Res Publica