Description
The philosopher John Rawls once said that "the question of justice between generations...subjects any ethical theory to severe if not impossible tests." This volume aims to illuminate those tests, indicate the progress made in resolving them, and take some steps of its own. It focuses on the increasing relevance of intergenerational ethics to key challenges of the 21st century, such as climate change, rapid technological change, the expanding human population, and threats of extinction. It features philosophers and political theorists of international standing, providing a cutting-edge perspective on these issues.Part A considers how intergenerational ethics should be understood from the point of view of leading contemporary moral and political theories, as well as approaches grounded in diverse cultural traditions. Topics include consequentialism, deontology, the ethics of care, contractualism, communitarianism, indigenous perspectives on ancestry, capabilities, republicanism, Buen Vivir, nonanthropocentrism, Confucianism, Maori philosophy, and African intergenerational ethics. Part B reflects on key concepts that structure public and academic discussions of intergenerational issues, such as sustainability, natural heritage, well-being, basic needs, meaning, and the threat of intergenerational tyranny. Part C addresses central issues that arise in intergenerational ethics. These range from key philosophical problems to how to understand political ideals to questions about the limits of appropriate concern. Chapters focus on areas such as: just savings principles, discounting in economics, duties to the past, the nonidentity problem, the repugnant conclusion, discursive justice, shaping intergenerational institutions, and whether to make threatening human extinction an international crime. Part D concludes by sampling topics that have a special importance in intergenerational affairs, such as pensions, inheritance, reparations, intergenerational debt, nuclear weapons, human population size, species conservation, and genetic enhancement of humans.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTIONThe Intergenerational Turn in Ethics: Modest Extension, Major Transformation, or Jealous Virtues?Stephen M. GardinerPART A. THEORIES AND TRADITIONS1. Consequentialism as an Intergenerational Ethic Tim Mulgan 2. A Deontological Approach to Future ConsequencesMolly Gardner3. For a Care-based Intergenerational EthicRuth Makoff and Rupert Read 4. Contractualism, Interpersonal and IntergenerationalRahul Kumar 5. Intergenerational Cooperation and the Social Contract Joseph Heath 6. Constructivist Contractualism and Future GenerationsGustaf Arrhenius and Emil Andersson7. Intergenerational Justice and Equality Clark Wolf 8. Global Intergenerational Justice: A Cosmopolitan Perspective Simon Caney 9. The Community, The Nation, and Obligations to Future Generations Avner de-Shalit 10. Hume, Republicanism, and Relations to PosterityJohn O'Neill and John Salter 11. Capabilities, Future Generations, and Climate JusticeBreena Holland 12. Long-Term Non-anthropocentric EthicsJohn Nolt13. Ancestry and Crisis: Intergenerational Ethics and EcocentrismKyle Whyte 14. Confucianism and Intergenerational EthicsMarion Hourdequin and David B. Wong 15. Kaitiakitanga: Toward an Intergenerational PhilosophyKrushil Wahene16. Intergenerational Justice: An African PerspectiveErnest-Marie Mbonda and Thierry Ngosso 17. Buen Vivir: A Latin American Contribution to Intra- and Intergenerational EthicsGraciela Vidiella and Facundo Garcia ValverdePART B. KEY CONCEPTS18. The Centrality of the Tyranny of the Contemporary to Intergenerational EthicsStephen M. Gardiner 19. Intergenerational MetaphorsAxel Gosseries 20. Well-being and Intergenerational EthicsAndrew Moore 21. Basic Needs and Sufficiency: the Foundations of Intergenerational JusticeLucas H. Meyer & Thomas Polzer 22. Natural Resources, Sustainability and Intergenerational EthicsChris Armstrong23. The Intergenerational Value of Natural HeritageAngela Karlhoff24. Irreversible LossKai Spiekermann25. Meaning and Value Across the GenerationsSamuel Scheffler 26. A World They Don't Deserve: Moral failure and deep adaptationAllen Thompson PART C. CENTRAL ISSUES27. Discounting and Intergenerational EthicsMarc Fleurbaey and Stéphane Zuber28. The Sustainabilitarian Approach: Utilitarianism, the Discounting of Future Welfare Levels, and SustainabilityJohn E. Roemer29. Justice between Coexisting Generations Juliana Uhuru Bidadanure30. The Just Savings PrincipleEric Brandstedt31. The Family and Intergenerational Justice: A Liberal Egalitarian PerspectiveColin M. Macleod 32. Do We Have Moral Duties to Past People?Geoffrey Scarre33. Parfit and the Non-Identity ProblemDavid Boonin34. The Repugnant Conclusion: an OverviewGustaf Arrhenius & Emil Andersson35. Risk, Responsibility, and Procreative Asymmetries Rivka Weinberg 36. Human Rights & Intergenerational EthicsMarcus Duwell 37. Discursive Justice in and with Future Generations Michael Blake 38. Intergenerational Ethics and Individual Duties: A Cooperative Promotional ApproachElizabeth Cripps39. Political Institutions & Intergenerational Ethics: Disenfranchising the Future?Anja Karnein40. Postericide and Intergenerational Ethics Catriona McKinnonPART D: SPECIAL TOPICS41. Universal State Pension Schemes and the Duties of Retirees Elizabeth Finneron-Burns42. On "Dynastic" InequalityDan Halliday & Miranda Stewart 43. Intergenerational Justice and DebtPatrick Taylor Smith44. Reparation as Intergenerational JusticeJanna Thompson45. Should We Deploy Nuclear Energy? How Intergenerational Ethics Could Help to Escape the DichotomyBehnam Taebi 46. Nuclear Deterrence - Another Perfect Storm Matthew Rendall 47. The Challenge of PopulationSarah Conly48. Species Conservation, Biotechnology, and Intergenerational EthicsRon Sandler49. Moral Bioenhancement and Future Generations: Selecting Martyrdom?Julian Savulescu and Hilary Bowman-Smart
