Institutions: Governments, Corporations, non-profits, churches and more. They act in the world enacting changes often on a much larger scale than any individual is capable, in many ways they are the driving forces of our world. We assign these actions moral value, companies are able to plead guilty in court, and we talk about good and bad institutions more broadly. But how can we map on our common sense notions of morality and responsibility, the notions we use in relation to individuals to these institutions. Should there be a one-to-one mapping? Can there be any, when many do not persist over time or have such centralized decision making as human individuals do? How can we moralize our institutions in a principled manner if at all? What moral attitudes should we take to our institutions in order for them to best serve humanity?
Moral Agency of Institutions
