What is at Stake in Taking Responsibility? Lessons from Third-Party Property Insurance

Business & Professional Ethics Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 75-94, 2001

20 Pages Posted: 10 Dec 2009

See all articles by Nicole A. Vincent

Nicole A. Vincent

Georgia State University; Delft University of Technology - Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management

Date Written: June 1, 2001

Abstract

Third—party property insurance (TPPI) protects insured drivers who accidentally damage an expensive car from the threat of financial ruin. Perhaps more importantly though, TPPI also protects the victims whose losses might otherwise go uncompensated. Ought responsible drivers therefore take out TPPI? This paper begins by enumerating some reasons why a rational person might believe that they have a moral obligation to take out TPPI. It will be argued that if what were at stake in taking responsibility was the ability to compensate our possible future victims for their losses, then it might initially seem that most people should be thankful for the availability of relatively inexpensive TPPI because without it they may not have sufficient funds to do the right thing and compensate their victims in the event of an accident. But is the ability to compensate one's victims really what is at stake in taking responsibility? The second part of this paper will critically examine the arguments for the above position, and it will argue that these arguments do not support the conclusion that injurers should compensate their victims for their losses, and hence that drivers need not take out TPPI in order to be responsible. Further still, even if these arguments did support the conclusion that injurers should compensate their victims for their losses, then (perhaps surprisingly) nobody should be allowed to take out TPPI because doing so would frustrate justice.

Keywords: responsibility, insurance, accidents, corrective justice, tort law

Suggested Citation

Vincent, Nicole A., What is at Stake in Taking Responsibility? Lessons from Third-Party Property Insurance (June 1, 2001). Business & Professional Ethics Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 75-94, 2001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1519454

Nicole A. Vincent (Contact Author)

Georgia State University ( email )

35 Broad Street
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
United States

HOME PAGE: http://nicolevincent.net

Delft University of Technology - Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management ( email )

P.O. Box 5015
2600 GB Delft
Netherlands
+31654363692 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://nicolevincent.net/

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
46
Abstract Views
785
PlumX Metrics