VARIOUS SENSES OF RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility ascribed by i) virtue, ii) obligations, iii) general moral capacities of people, iv) liabilities and accountability for actions and v) blameworthiness or praiseworthiness.

1. By virtue: A person is said to be a responsible person when we ascribe a moral virtue to the person. We expect that the person is regularly concerned to do the right thing, is conscientious  and  diligent  in  meeting  obligations.    In  this  sense,  professional responsibility is the central virtue of engineers.

2. By obligation: Moral responsibilities can be thought of as obligations or duties to perform morally right acts.

3. By general moral capacity: When we view a person as a whole rather than one with respect to a specific area, we are actually thinking about the active capacity of the person for knowing how to act in morally appropriate ways e.g. the capacity of children grow as they mature and learn.

4. By accountability: Responsibility also means being accountable, answerable or liable to meet particular obligations.   The virtue of professional   responsibility implies a willingness to be accountable for one’s conduct.

5. By being blameworthy: When accountability for a wrongdoing is at issue, responsible becomes  a synonym for blameworthy. When right conduct is the issue, the context is praiseworthiness.