
Obligations to Future Generations
White Horse Press
Published on 15. September 2012
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-874267-31-7 (ISBN)
Description
When this seminal collection of essays was first published in 1978, the philosophical 'problem' of obligations to fixture generations was not widely recognised. But as the contributors point out, the theories that have constituted the stock-in-trade of moral philosophers for the past two hundred years often produce weird and counter-intuitive results when they are extended to try to include those who are as yet unborn. Utilitarianism can appear to recommend practically unlimited population increase, with quantity of life taking precedence over quality; theories based on a social contract present difficulties involving reciprocity - we can affect the lives of future people while they apparently cannot affect ours; while the idea of rights seems difficult to apply to those whose future existence may depend on our present choice of action - do 'potential' people have a 'right' to be born? On its original publication, the journal Ethics devoted 30 pages to a review of Obligations to Future Generations, and the book is still frequently and extensively cited and discussed.
The philosophical questions raised here centre around 'whether and to what degree it can be morally incumbent on us to make sacrifices to bring happy people into the world or to avoid preventing them being brought into the world'. The implications surrounding this central question are becoming ever more urgent in the light of increasing concerns over dwindling resources, population growth, globalisation and environmental risk. This collection is essential reading for students of ethics and social policy, and for anyone concerned with the relation between the present choices and future chances of humanity.
The philosophical questions raised here centre around 'whether and to what degree it can be morally incumbent on us to make sacrifices to bring happy people into the world or to avoid preventing them being brought into the world'. The implications surrounding this central question are becoming ever more urgent in the light of increasing concerns over dwindling resources, population growth, globalisation and environmental risk. This collection is essential reading for students of ethics and social policy, and for anyone concerned with the relation between the present choices and future chances of humanity.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Knapwell
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
black & white illustrations; black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
508 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-874267-31-7 (9781874267317)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Various | R. I. Sikora | Brian Barry
Obligations to Future Generations
E-Book
09/2012
The White Horse Press
€73.99
Available for download
Content
Part 1: Should intrinsic value be placed on the preservation of mankind? - obligations to posterity, Thomas Schartz; do potential people have moral rights?, Mary Warren; in defence of the potentiality principle, William Anglin; future people and us, Jan Narveson; on maximizing happiness, Jonathan Bennett; environmental ethics and obligations to future generations, Robert Scott Jr.; classical Utilitarianism and the population optimum, L.W. Sumner; is it wrong to prevent the existence of future generations?, R.I. Sikora. Part 2 Assuming that future generations will exist and that the future population size is taken as given, what obligations do we have to future generations? - discounting versus maximum sustainable yield, Mary B. Williams; the futurity problem, Gregory Kavka; circumstances of justice and future generations, Brian Barry.