Moral responsibilities and political realities

Responsibility depends on neither causes nor intentions. It is a matter of answerability to a community of obligation. Only individuals are responsible, for collective actions as well as personal ones. Responsibility is both political and moral. Politics give substance to moral responsibility. Political forms, in turn, reflect the prevailing structure of moral responsibility. Both policy makers and policy analysts can be held responsible; this act itself, however, must be done responsibly.This article is based on the Presidential Address, Israel Philosophical Association, April 21, 1981.The author can be contacted at 2434 Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, U.S.A. until August 1982.