Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals

by Tyler Cowen

In many cases our obligations should be viewed at a collective level. This framework does not pin down a uniquely correct course of action for each individual, so it’s not morally clear which individual is obliged to make the sacrifice. What if there were an innocent girl drowning in a lake, and any one of us could jump in and save her? In these cases the question, “What should I do?” allows for considerable latitude, and the scope of my individual obligation, as a group member, may be indeterminate. It’s good if I risk my safety and jump in after her, but it’s also fine if someone else does it instead. Similarly, it doesn’t have to be my group that protests government injustice, because many other groups could do this as well. This becomes a problem of game theory, and as we know from game theory, the implied obligation of a single individual or group is very often indeterminate.