The second way of creating distance is closely related to the first. It involves replacing comprehensive moral concepts with a partialized sense of responsibility. The substitution of "moral" responsibility with a merely "technical-formal responsibility", as Bauman calls it, requires a highly developed functional division of labor. To a certain extent, this substitution also takes place in hierarchical-linear structures. Each link in the hierarchical chain of subordination is responsible to the direct superior and is primarily interested in his or her assessment. But alongside this, there can still be at least a theoretical idea of the consequences of one's own actions. There is always the possibility that the fixation on the superior's favor will not be able to cover up the disgust at the result of the action. And where you can weigh things up, there is room for maneuver. This is why technical responsibility cannot be sufficiently stabilized within a purely linear division of labour. It is subject to a residual moral pressure to justify itself. Situations are conceivable in which functionaries refuse to carry out orders that violate regulations or in which technically justifiable measures suddenly take on an ethical and moral dimension. This theoretical possibility becomes null and void, or at least severely limited, as soon as hierarchical command structures are replaced by a functional division of labor. Technical-formal responsibility can now override all restrictions and is unassailable in practical terms. What is its specific feature?
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Bammé, Homo occidentalis, p. 439.