[psych/anthro] Agency and Responsibility?
In our society, one of our deepest cultural assumptions is that moral responsibility rests upon capability: that one cannot be found morally at fault for what one was powerless to do anything about.
I'm pretty sure this isn't the only model out there. There are hints of the alternative view point in the Old Testament transgenerational punishments, where the sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons. There are hints in honor killings, whereby the sins of a woman are felt to reflect upon her male relatives. There are hints in Japanese construal of collective honor, whereby one member's misdeed can dishonor the whole of the clan.
Does anybody know of any nice books or articles which discuss the role of capability in morality across cultures, with a discussion of cultures which don't hew to our model? Or even how I might best try to find such a thing if it exists?
I'm pretty sure this isn't the only model out there. There are hints of the alternative view point in the Old Testament transgenerational punishments, where the sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons. There are hints in honor killings, whereby the sins of a woman are felt to reflect upon her male relatives. There are hints in Japanese construal of collective honor, whereby one member's misdeed can dishonor the whole of the clan.
Does anybody know of any nice books or articles which discuss the role of capability in morality across cultures, with a discussion of cultures which don't hew to our model? Or even how I might best try to find such a thing if it exists?