Imperative of responsibility
The duty to weigh the full, indefinite consequences of an action before taking it.
What it commits you to
Jonas argues that the ethic of knowledge has been superseded by an ethic of responsibility: because the effects of powerful action are unpredictable and potentially irreversible, the burden of proof lies with the actor. It is the strongest philosophical statement of the precautionary case against proceeding under uncertainty, and it is a thesis about who must be able to say no.
Which realms lean on this
Philosophy carries the arguments the other four kinds are downstream of — what an agent is, what a person owes, what a rule is for.
philosophy · 8 realms — The Care Weft, The Contractual Court, The Existential Wilds, The Kantian Citadel, The Longview Foundry, The Middle Kingdom, The Pragmatic Wharf, The Sangha Terraces.
Canon that discusses this
modern · 1979
The Imperative of Responsibility (Das Prinzip Verantwortung)
Jonas argues that the ethic of responsibility must take precedence over the ethic of knowledge: the effects of an action are unpredictable, so the burden of proof sits with the actor, not with the critic. German original in 1979; the English translation appeared in 1984, a year after his death.
modern · 2006
Ethics of Care
Held develops the care perspective into a full ethical position and argues against the priority claim of justice: obligations arise inside particular relationships, are partial, and are not derivable from general principles. The book that made partiality respectable in moral theory. The excerpt below paraphrases Held's thesis rather than quoting the 2006 book.
modern · 2002
No Future Without a Past
Tutu argues from ubuntu — that a person becomes fully human through relationship with other people — to a politics of shared responsibility rather than blame. The formulation that matters for a governance question is the negative one: a future without the past that made it is not a future anyone can build on. The excerpt below paraphrases the essay rather than quoting it.
modern · 1946
Existentialism Is a Humanism
Sartre wrote it as a lecture in Paris in October 1945 and it was published the following year; the title is the argument, and the defence of freedom as responsibility for one's own situation is the part that survives. He also argues here against the charge that existentialism places man above nature. The excerpt below paraphrases the lecture rather than quoting the 1946 text.
See also
Precautionary principle
ethicsWhen serious harm is possible and the evidence is uncertain, act to avoid it.
Legitimacy
philosophyThe right to be obeyed, held by a rule or authority rather than by its author.
Existential risk
alignmentA risk that permanently curtails humanity's future, including by ending it.
Virtue ethics
ethicsJudging moral character and disposition rather than the moral status of single acts.