Ours to Reason Why: Essays on Practical Deliberation, Group Action, and Moral Personhood

Abstract

The three essays that comprise this dissertation are independent works, but together they advance the following overarching argument. Against the backdrop of a group action of which we are, or could be, a part, each of us can ask ourselves the quintessential question of practical deliberation: “What should I do?” In answering this question, it falls to each of us to reason why, to ask ourselves: “Why should I contribute to this group action? Are the ends at which the group aims things that I am willing to promote through my contributory action?” I argue that, so long as we are committed to the view that we humans are free and equal persons, it is incumbent upon us to take ourselves and one another to be morally answerable for the choices we each make when settling these questions. In this special sense, we each are morally responsible for what we together do.