Moral Responsibility, Respect, and Social Identity

Abstract

P. F. Strawson draws a distinction between what he calls the “participant stance” that people take toward those they regard as morally responsible agents, and the “objective stance” they take toward those who are not. This chapter explores the role these two stances play in oppressive moral responsibility practices. The argument has three parts. Section 2 argues it is better to regard the participant and objective stance as opposite ends of a spectrum, with many social interactions involving a stance somewhere between. Section 3 explores what sort of respect is involved in the two stances; it argues that the objective stance involves recognition respect for the person toward whom it is directed as a person. The participant stance involves recognition respect, but it also involves appraisal respect for the agent’s moral capacities. The final section 4 applies these insights to a set of cases involving oppressive moral responsibility practices.