The Responsibility Project

Responsible for the Irresponsible?

I've read with interest the comments about this movie. One question that I think deserves further discussion is how far does our moral obligation to be responsible extend to those who are acting irresponsibly? It is irresponsible in my judgment to ask a stranger to watch a valuable personal item for any more than a couple of moments e.g. the time it takes to go to the rest room or retrieve a sugar packet at the counter. Certainly, it's irresponsible to physically leave the premises and not return when promised. In the film, I think it was responsible for the initial "table guardian" to have agreed to watch the man's computer. My feeling is that the bounds of her responsibility could reasonably have been reached when the man failed to return within 15-30 minutes or so from when he said he would. After that, she could have walked away and the man would then suffer the potential consequences of his irresponsible behavior e.g. a stolen laptop. I think the determination of the "responsibility boundary" in the face of irresponsible behavior is largely contextual. Many variables need to be considered, including will innocent parties be harmed if I leave my post. For instance, if a neighbor mom says, "Can you watch my kids for a hour?" and doesn't return until the next day, the responsibility boundary would extend to the return of the mother.

• Steven Westerdahl
• 8 months, 3 weeks ago