Waubonsee Community College

Complicity and moral accountability, Gregory Mellema

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 160-161) and index

index present

non fiction

Complicity and moral accountability

bibliography

932066556

Gregory Mellema

In Complicity and Moral Accountability, Gregory Mellema presents a philosophical approach to the moral issues involved in complicity. Starting with a taxonomy of Thomas Aquinas, according to whom there are nine ways for one to become complicit in the wrongdoing of another, Mellema analyzes each kind of complicity and examines the moral status of someone complicit in each of these ways. Mellema's central argument is that one must perform a contributing action to qualify as an accomplice, and that it is always morally blameworthy to perform such an action. Additionally, he argues that an accomplice frequently bears moral responsibility for the outcome of the other's wrongdoing, but he distinguishes this case from cases in which the accomplice is tainted by the wrongdoing of the principal actor. He further distinguishes between enabling, facilitating, and condoning harm, and introduces the concept of indirect complicity

Thomas Aquinas on complicity -- Christopher Kutz on complicity -- Enabling harm -- Facilitating harm -- Collective and shared responsibility -- Avoiding complicity -- Moral expectation -- Well-integrated actions -- H.D. Lewis, Karl Jaspers, and complicity -- Indirect accomplices -- Agreements and complicity -- Complicity in criminal law