I’ve always wondered what “communal responsibility” really means.
One possibility:
If you’re a member of a group, and the way non-members will treat you individually is largely informed by their perception (stereotype) of that group, then you want that group to have a good reputation rather than a bad one. If anything that a group member does reflects on the group, then each person should (in their own best interests) do things that improve rather than worsen that reputation.
A moral symmetry (like the Prisoner’s Dilemma or Stag Hunt games) exists, because everyone else in your group is in the same situation wrt you, that you are wrt them. If you do something that benefits you personally but harms the group’s reputation, everyone else in the group suffers; the same is true if another group member does so.
This sort of reasoning is often applied to (and by) minority groups who suffer from others’ stereotyping.
One possibility:
If you’re a member of a group, and the way non-members will treat you individually is largely informed by their perception (stereotype) of that group, then you want that group to have a good reputation rather than a bad one. If anything that a group member does reflects on the group, then each person should (in their own best interests) do things that improve rather than worsen that reputation.
A moral symmetry (like the Prisoner’s Dilemma or Stag Hunt games) exists, because everyone else in your group is in the same situation wrt you, that you are wrt them. If you do something that benefits you personally but harms the group’s reputation, everyone else in the group suffers; the same is true if another group member does so.
This sort of reasoning is often applied to (and by) minority groups who suffer from others’ stereotyping.
It is also a favorite of concern trolls.