ABSTRACT
Most people would argue that such a concept is applicable only to human beings, and that is a sentiment with which I agree. Just because the concept of responsibility is seen as having reference to a code of conduct it must be seen as of dubious relevance for understanding the behaviour of non-human species. One could describe a mother monkey as behaving ‘as if’ she were responsible for her infant, and there is a great deal of evidence to indicate that her behaviour has been adapted in evolution to promote the survival of
that infant, but that is a very different matter from saying that her behaviour is determined by an ethical-moral code.
