ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a connection between responsibility and reason for action. The connection underlies the basic thought that one cannot be held responsible for some problematic outcome if one had no reason to act in order to avert it. Sometimes, however, large scale harms arise from the actions of many, and one’s own contributions seem not to make a difference. Does this mean that one has no reason to act one way or the other concerning the matter? Does it then follow that no form of collective responsibility can attach to individuals in such cases? Not necessarily. The collective might have a reason to act otherwise, and the chapter suggests a way in which an individual might be entitled to reasons of the collective. This would allow us to preserve the intuitive connection between responsibility and reason for action thereby helping us make sense of how collective responsibility can bear on an individual.
