Injustice and Structural Wrong: Reply to Sankaran and Monaghan and to Collins

This article defends my challenge to the influential idea that social structures can be wrong independently of individual wrongdoing. Responding to criticisms from Kirun Sankaran and Jake Monaghan and from Stephanie Collins, I maintain my position against their charges of presupposing or concluding with the “deontic view” that only agents can commit wrongs. I then explain why I think Collins’s positive account of how there might be structurally targeted grievance attitudes such as resentment is not successful.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Ethics
Published
2026-03-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/739646
Primary Topic
Free Will and Agency
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Injustice and Structural Wrong: Reply to Sankaran and Monaghan and to Collins

David Estlund
Ethics
Free Will and Agency
article

Injustice and Structural Wrong: Reply to Sankaran and Monaghan and to Collins

David Estlund
article en

Abstract

This article defends my challenge to the influential idea that social structures can be wrong independently of individual wrongdoing. Responding to criticisms from Kirun Sankaran and Jake Monaghan and from Stephanie Collins, I maintain my position against their charges of presupposing or concluding with the “deontic view” that only agents can commit wrongs. I then explain why I think Collins’s positive account of how there might be structurally targeted grievance attitudes such as resentment is not successful.

EthicsVol. 136(3)
Openalex Percentile: Top 15%
Free Will and Agency
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