Description
What do we owe future people? Intergenerational ethics is of great philosophical and practical importance, given human beings' ability to affect not only the quality of life of future people, but also how many of them there will be (if any at all). This book develops a distinctly contractualist answer to this question--we need to justify our actions to them on grounds they could not reasonably reject. The book develops principles of intergenerational ethics in four main areas. How good a life are we required to leave future people? When is it permissible for an individual to procreate? Should we try to ensure as many people as possible live in the future or allow humans to become extinct? How does the fact that we do not always know how our actions will affect future people change what we owe them? The book answers these questions by using the contractualist method to develop general moral principles in these areas, and then applying those principles to real-world, concrete situations that individuals and states face every day.
About the Author
Elizabeth Finneron-Burns is Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Western Ontario and an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm. Her work on intergenerational ethics and the ethics of human extinction has been published in various journals including Utilitas, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
Reviews
An impressive statement and development of the contractualist position on future generations, which everyone will now have to take seriously. Elizabeth Finneron-Burns has set the benchmark against which those of us who disagree will have to respond. * Stephen M. Gardiner, Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Professor of the Human Dimensions of the Environment, University of Washington, Seattle *
What We Owe to Future Generations is both an outstanding introduction to the central questions of intergenerational ethics and the best defense to date of the value of thinking about them in the way contractualism invites. It is certain to become one of the standard texts that anyone interested in intergenerational ethics should read. * Rahul Kumar, Queen's University *
The question of What We Owe to Future Generations has accurately been described as "mind-bending" in its difficulty, and yet it is a question of profound importance for central decisions of how we should best live, how we should make procreative decisions, and how we should deal with the problems of climate change. In this wise, well-informed and judicious book, Elizabeth Finneron-Burns approaches theseehon issues with skill and clarity, taking an approach that is rooted in the contractualist ethical theory of T. M. Scanlon. Everyone interested in the ethical questions generated by our relationship to future people will find this book informative, thoughtful and stimulating. * Martin O'Neill, Professor of Political Philosophy, University of York *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197653258
Author Elizabeth Finneron-Burns
Format Hardback
Page Count 232
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 386g
Dimensions(mm) 147mm * 201mm * 33mm
About the Author
Elizabeth Finneron-Burns is Assistant Professor of Political Theory at the University of Western Ontario and an affiliated researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm. Her work on intergenerational ethics and the ethics of human extinction has been published in various journals including Utilitas, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
Reviews
An impressive statement and development of the contractualist position on future generations, which everyone will now have to take seriously. Elizabeth Finneron-Burns has set the benchmark against which those of us who disagree will have to respond. * Stephen M. Gardiner, Professor of Philosophy and Ben Rabinowitz Professor of the Human Dimensions of the Environment, University of Washington, Seattle *
What We Owe to Future Generations is both an outstanding introduction to the central questions of intergenerational ethics and the best defense to date of the value of thinking about them in the way contractualism invites. It is certain to become one of the standard texts that anyone interested in intergenerational ethics should read. * Rahul Kumar, Queen's University *
The question of What We Owe to Future Generations has accurately been described as "mind-bending" in its difficulty, and yet it is a question of profound importance for central decisions of how we should best live, how we should make procreative decisions, and how we should deal with the problems of climate change. In this wise, well-informed and judicious book, Elizabeth Finneron-Burns approaches theseehon issues with skill and clarity, taking an approach that is rooted in the contractualist ethical theory of T. M. Scanlon. Everyone interested in the ethical questions generated by our relationship to future people will find this book informative, thoughtful and stimulating. * Martin O'Neill, Professor of Political Philosophy, University of York *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197653258
Author Elizabeth Finneron-Burns
Format Hardback
Page Count 232
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 386g
Dimensions(mm) 147mm * 201mm * 33mm
