48 2 CHAPTER 2 varieties that are primarily backward-looking are: 3) accountability, 4) blameworthiness and 5) liability. More formally, forward-looking responsibility is defined by (Van de Poel, 2011, p. 41): 1) A is forward-looking responsible for X to B means that A owes it to B to see to it that X In which A and B are agents (i.e. persons or a forum) and X can be a task, action, outcome or realm of authority. This statement reflects that persons can have specific responsibilities to different people that they owe different responsibilities that might even conflict. Backward-looking responsibility is formally defined as (Van de Poel, 2011, p. 42): 2) A is backward-looking responsible for X to B means that it is fitting for B to hold A responsible for X This statement entails that being responsible includes being accountable or blameworthy. In this sense accountability performs functions of scrutiny, for example calling someone to account, requiring justifications and imposing sanctions (Mulgan, 2000). The notion of fitting refers to the appropriateness for someone to hold another accountable under certain conditions. The conditions for which it is appropriate or fitting to hold A backward-looking blameworthy are (Van de Poel, 2011): 1. Capacity condition: the agent has the capacity to act responsibly i.e. has moral agency; 2. Causality condition: the agent is causally connected to the outcome by either an action or an omission; 3. Wrong-doing condition: a reasonable suspicion that an agent did something wrong, or could have prevented something wrong from happening and the agent has the burden-of-proof to show that it is not to blame by giving account. The shift of burden-of-proof to the agent that is supposed to have done something wrong only seems reasonable if there are arguments for the suspicion of wrongdoing. These forms of responsibility are conceptually and casually related in many ways. For instance, one can arguably be deemed to be a responsible person (virtue) only if she accepts blame and liability when needed and is willing to account for his or her actions (G. Williams, 2008). A general capacity for accountability is arguably the basis for other forms of backward-looking responsibility, including blameworthiness (Gardner, 2007). Moral blameworthiness (in the form of culpability or fault) grounds many forms of
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