A Philosophical Analysis of Ascription of Moral Responsibilities for the Professional Ethics of Urban Planners
Abstract：
This paper applies the analytical framework for moral responsibilities in explaining the dilemma of the ascription of responsibilities in planning ethics, to resolve disputes in taking unjust blames for professional negligence in planning decision making. First, moral responsibility is conceptualized as one’s deservingness of praise or blame for his/her behavior, in which factors like causality and obligation contribute directly to the accountability of potential outcomes meanwhile whether individual possess the adequate “capacity”, “agency”, or “knowledge” to act also indirectly linked to the liability. Based on such conceptual framework, disputes over professional responsibilities ought to be interpreted through “the difficulty in causal inference”, “the ambiguity in overall obligation” and “the influences of indirect factors”. Second, this paper includes an in-depth analysis of five real-world scenarios in which planners find themselves struggling to fulfill their professional roles. It is observed that planers in their professional conduct tries to trade-off, determine, and balance their moral responsibilities, upholding the principles of professional ethics. While, it is worth noting how the multiple values and roles in the real world complicate the overall obligation of planners, causing conflicts and confusions. However, there are also cases demonstrating planners could reach certain consensus in professional responsibility through communication and discussion. Therefore, rational thinking using a scientific conceptual framework could help to reach the point of convergence in the ascription of responsibilities for urban planners.