The Age of Responsibility

What is Responsibility?

The concept of accountability refers to different theoretical universe, but relates, such as law, ethics and religion. In the ethical perspective, accountability is a movement response to the other that assumes a priori the existence of social ties. Many philosophers are careful to define the responsibility through relationships with others, including distance themselves from the definition of common sense that combine accountability with the ability to be self-sufficient, to fend for himself. In the United States for example, explain Bellah et al. (1996), the Protestant religion and culture so strong utilitarian convey the value of independence in this culture, individuals are solely responsible for their economic and social difficulties. Many scholars interested in this approach the ethics of responsibility (Muller & Denis 98).

This perspective assigns certain duties to individuals and expresses social expectations with respect to the duties of each (Kellerhals et al.301-329). The notion of responsibility already partly retrospective defines adulthood as most legal means, at the age of 18, the youth becomes liable for the consequences of his actions before the law and ensures the same time, that it will offer a repair if necessary. In fact, there is a conceptual relationship between the terms retrospective responsibility and accountability, both related to the idea of rational subject (Smythe & Thomas, 493-506). The conventional notion of responsibility after the theoretical universe of law therefore, includes the recognition of a causal relationship between the subject and its actions (Rey, Jean 101-121).

Responsibility Practices: Differences between Responsibility, Liabilities and Obligations

Even if the commitments were chosen freely, for example, through the bond of friendship, mutual obligations settled. As highlighted Godbout (2000, see also Godbout and Caille, 1992), the modern individual and free is not relieved of its obligations to others. However, obligations to family are less prescribed by institutions, each negotiating, explicitly or implicitly, its obligations to the people toward whom he feels committed, because of the confidence he acquired in these relations (Finch and Mason 156). The obligations of the same individual will be different for different types of commitments that grow with each other and they fluctuate over time. Of course, some feel more or less forced than others, some have more expectations than others. Often, family conflicts are the result of a highly divergent between the expectations and obligations of each other. Moral obligations are negotiated and explicitly or implicitly through links to other commitment (Bellah et al. 123-131).

The concept of responsibility is a concept much broader than those of commitment and obligation. Accountability relationships are part of a future temporality and parenthood is certainly the most typical example: it requires a vision of the future greater than required by most other commitments. To illustrate the difference between the obligations, commitments and responsibilities, take the example of Richardson (1999) in his article on prospective responsibility. When a neighbor is babysitting one night, he agrees to meet certain obligations such as reviewing homework, feed the children and to bed. It is therefore, expected that the guardian ...