What is forward-looking collective responsibility and what is its connection, if any, to backward-looking collective responsibility and to collective obligation? I argue that the notion of forward-looking collective responsibility is not very different, if different at all, from collective obligation. I maintain further that in many cases, there is an important relationship between collective moral responsibility in the backward-looking sense, and collective moral responsibility in the forward-looking sense. I develop my ideas using two cases:  (1) Canada’s historical treatment of its Indigenous people and (2) Larry May and Robert Strikwerda’s claim that men as a group are responsible for the prevalence of rape in our society. I conclude that while there is an important connection in some cases between collective obligation and collective responsibility (in the backward looking sense), it is not the case that every instance of harm requiring a collective action solution is necessarily a consequence of a blameworthy collective action.

Tracy Isaacs, Philosophy, The University of Western Ontario
tisaacs@uwo.ca