The transfer of duties: From individuals to states and back again

Book chapter

Collins, Stephanie and Lawford-Smith, Holly. (2016). The transfer of duties: From individuals to states and back again. In In M. Brady and M. Fricker (Ed.). The epistemic life of groups: Essays in the epistemology of collectives pp. 150 - 172 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198759645.003.0009
AuthorsCollins, Stephanie and Lawford-Smith, Holly
EditorsM. Brady and M. Fricker
Abstract

We often make claims about the duties of states. One might think, for example, that Australia has a duty to legalize homosexual marriage, or that the United States has a duty to make healthcare affordable. Can such duties be explained in terms of individuals’ duties? This chapter argues that many—though not all—can. The chapter builds a general and abstract analysis of how some collectives’ duties are explained by individuals’ duties, and applies it to states in a way that retains common-sense intuitions about states’ duties. It then uses that analysis to suggest a new sense of membership in a state. The analysis depends crucially on epistemic elements, including the beliefs and transfers of information required for reciprocal recognition and intentional participation; certain other bidirectional transfers of knowledge; and the required degree of justification for certain key beliefs.

Keywordsstates; duties; membership; information; recognition; participation; transfer; knowledge
Page range150 - 172
Year2016
Book titleThe epistemic life of groups: Essays in the epistemology of collectives
PublisherOxford University Press
Place of publicationUnited States of America
ISBN9780198759645
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198759645.003.0009
Research GroupDianoia Institute of Philosophy
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