Why Worry About Future Generations

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Why Worry about Future Generations?

Author : Samuel Scheffler
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 155 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : Generations
ISBN : 9780198798989

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Why Worry about Future Generations? by Samuel Scheffler Pdf

The things we do today may make life worse for future generations. But why should we care what happens to people who won't be born until after all of us are gone? Some philosophers have treated this as a question about our moral responsibilities, and have argued that we have duties of beneficence to promote the well-being of our descendants. Rather than focusing exclusively on issues of moral responsibility, Samuel Scheffler considers the broader question of why and how future generations matter to us. Although we lack a developed set of ideas about the value of human continuity, we are more invested in the fate of our descendants than we may realize. Implicit in our existing values and attachments are a variety of powerful reasons for wanting the chain of human generations to persist into the indefinite future under conditions conducive to human flourishing. This has implications for the way we think about problems like climate change. And it means that some of our strongest reasons for caring about the future of humanity depend not on our moral duty to promote the good but rather on our existing evaluative attachments and on our conservative disposition to preserve and sustain the things that we value. This form of conservatism supports rather than inhibits a concern for future generations, and it is an important component of the complex stance we take toward the temporal dimension of our lives.

What We Owe the Future

Author : William MacAskill
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 423 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2022-08-16
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781541618633

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What We Owe the Future by William MacAskill Pdf

An Instant New York Times Bestseller “This book will change your sense of how grand the sweep of human history could be, where you fit into it, and how much you could do to change it for the better. It's as simple, and as ambitious, as that.” —Ezra Klein An Oxford philosopher makes the case for “longtermism” — that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority of our time. The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more — or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to do today. In What We Owe The Future, philosopher William MacAskill argues for longtermism, that idea that positively influencing the distant future is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilization would rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet where the smartest beings are digital, not human. If we make wise choices today, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive, knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope and beauty.

Future People:A Moderate Consequentialist Account of our Obligations to Future Generations

Author : Tim Mulgan
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 396 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2006-01-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 019928220X

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Future People:A Moderate Consequentialist Account of our Obligations to Future Generations by Tim Mulgan Pdf

What do we owe to our descendants? How do we balance their needs against our own? Tim Mulgan develops a new theory of our obligations to future generations, based on a new rule-consequentialist account of the morality of individual reproduction. He argues that the resulting theory accounts for a wide range of independently plausible intuitions - covering individual morality, intergenerational justice, and international justice. In particular, the moderate consequentialist approachis superior to its two main rivals in this area - person-affecting theories and traditional consequentialism. The former fall foul of Parfit's Non-Identity Problem, while the latter are invariably implausibly demanding. Mulgan also claims that most puzzles in contemporary value theory (such asParfit's Repugnant Conclusion) are actually puzzles in the theory of right action, and can only be solved if we abandon strict consequentialism for a more moderate alternative.The heart of the book is the first systematic exploration of the rule-consequentialist account of the morality of individual reproduction. Mulgan demostrates that this account is superior to all available alternatives, both consequentialist and non-consequentialist. Once we recognise the intergenerational dimension, moral and political philosophy cannot be considered in isolation. The latter must be founded on the former. Rule consequentialism provides the best foundation for a theory ofintergenerational justice.Future People brings together several different contemporary philosophical discussions: obligations to future generations, the morality of individual reproduction, the demands of morality, and international justice. While the focus is on developing a new account, there are also substantial discussions of alternative views, especially contract-based accounts of intergenerational justice and competing forms of consequentialism.

Death and the Afterlife

Author : Samuel Scheffler
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 221 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2013-09-09
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199982523

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Death and the Afterlife by Samuel Scheffler Pdf

Suppose you knew that, though you yourself would live your life to its natural end, the earth and all its inhabitants would be destroyed thirty days after your death. To what extent would you remain committed to your current projects and plans? Would scientists still search for a cure for cancer? Would couples still want children? In Death and the Afterlife, philosopher Samuel Scheffler poses this thought experiment in order to show that the continued life of the human race after our deaths--the "afterlife" of the title--matters to us to an astonishing and previously neglected degree. Indeed, Scheffler shows that, in certain important respects, the future existence of people who are as yet unborn matters more to us than our own continued existence and the continued existence of those we love. Without the expectation that humanity has a future, many of the things that now matter to us would cease to do so. By contrast, the prospect of our own deaths does little to undermine our confidence in the value of our activities. Despite the terror we may feel when contemplating our deaths, the prospect of humanity's imminent extinction would pose a far greater threat to our ability to lead lives of wholehearted engagement. Scheffler further demonstrates that, although we are not unreasonable to fear death, personal immortality, like the imminent extinction of humanity, would also undermine our confidence in the values we hold dear. His arresting conclusion is that, in order for us to lead value-laden lives, what is necessary is that we ourselves should die and that others should live. Death and the Afterlife concludes with commentary by four distinguished philosophers--Harry Frankfurt, Niko Kolodny, Seana Shiffrin, and Susan Wolf--who discuss Scheffler's ideas with insight and imagination. Scheffler adds a final reply.

Ethics of the Future

Author : William Henry Whinfield
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 1876
Category : Ethics
ISBN : PRNC:32101066076975

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Ethics of the Future by William Henry Whinfield Pdf

Climate Change and the Voiceless

Author : Randall S. Abate
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 261 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2019-10-24
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781108480116

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Climate Change and the Voiceless by Randall S. Abate Pdf

Identifies the common vulnerabilities of the voiceless and demonstrates how the law can evolve to protect their interests more effectively.

The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics

Author : Stephen Mark Gardiner,Allen Thompson
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 617 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2017
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199941339

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The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics by Stephen Mark Gardiner,Allen Thompson Pdf

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online.

What If We Stopped Pretending?

Author : Jonathan Franzen
Publisher : HarperCollins UK
Page : 80 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2021-01-21
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780008434052

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What If We Stopped Pretending? by Jonathan Franzen Pdf

The climate change is coming. To prepare for it, we need to admit that we can’t prevent it.

Taking Care of Youth and the Generations

Author : Bernard Stiegler
Publisher : Stanford University Press
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780804762724

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Taking Care of Youth and the Generations by Bernard Stiegler Pdf

The book presents a powerful reminder of adults' responsibility for the development of long-term attention (and thus of maturity) in children, particularly in the face of the techniques of attention-destruction practiced by the programming industries.

Future Shock

Author : Alvin Toffler
Publisher : Bantam
Page : 624 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2022-01-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780593159767

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Future Shock by Alvin Toffler Pdf

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The classic work that predicted the anxieties of a world upended by rapidly emerging technologies—and now provides a road map to solving many of our most pressing crises. “Explosive . . . brilliantly formulated.” —The Wall Street Journal Future Shock is the classic that changed our view of tomorrow. Its startling insights into accelerating change led a president to ask his advisers for a special report, inspired composers to write symphonies and rock music, gave a powerful new concept to social science, and added a phrase to our language. Published in over fifty countries, Future Shock is the most important study of change and adaptation in our time. In many ways, Future Shock is about the present. It is about what is happening today to people and groups who are overwhelmed by change. Change affects our products, communities, organizations—even our patterns of friendship and love. But Future Shock also illuminates the world of tomorrow by exploding countless clichés about today. It vividly describes the emerging global civilization: the rise of new businesses, subcultures, lifestyles, and human relationships—all of them temporary. Future Shock will intrigue, provoke, frighten, encourage, and, above all, change everyone who reads it.

Changing the Subject

Author : Sven Birkerts
Publisher : Graywolf Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2015-10-06
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9781555979102

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Changing the Subject by Sven Birkerts Pdf

Trenchant, expansive essays on the cultural consequences of ongoing, all-permeating technological innovation In 1994, Sven Birkerts published The Gutenberg Elegies, his celebrated rallying cry to resist the oncoming digital advances, especially those that might affect the way we read literature and experience art—the very cultural activities that make us human. After two decades of rampant change, Birkerts has allowed a degree of everyday digital technology into his life. He refuses to use a smartphone, but communicates via e-mail and spends some time reading online. In Changing the Subject, he examines the changes that he observes in himself and others—the distraction when reading on the screen; the loss of personal agency through reliance on GPS and one-stop information resources; an increasing acceptance of "hive" behaviors. "An unprecedented shift is underway," he argues, and "this transformation is dramatically accelerated and more psychologically formative than any previous technological innovation." He finds solace in engagement with art, particularly literature, and he brilliantly describes the countering energy available to us through acts of sustained attention, even as he worries that our increasingly mediated existences are not conducive to creativity. It is impossible to read Changing the Subject without coming away with a renewed sense of what is lost by our wholesale acceptance of digital innovation and what is regained when we immerse ourselves in a good book.

30 Lessons for Living

Author : Karl Pillemer, Ph.D.
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 2011-11-10
Category : Self-Help
ISBN : 9781101545850

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30 Lessons for Living by Karl Pillemer, Ph.D. Pdf

“Heartfelt and ever-endearing—equal parts information and inspiration. This is a book to keep by your bedside and return to often.”—Amy Dickinson, nationally syndicated advice columnist "Ask Amy" More than one thousand extraordinary Americans share their stories and the wisdom they have gained on living, loving, and finding happiness. After a chance encounter with an extraordinary ninety-year-old woman, renowned gerontologist Karl Pillemer began to wonder what older people know about life that the rest of us don't. His quest led him to interview more than one thousand Americans over the age of sixty-five to seek their counsel on all the big issues: children, marriage, money, career, aging. Their moving stories and uncompromisingly honest answers often surprised him. And he found that he consistently heard advice that pointed to these thirty lessons for living. Here he weaves their personal recollections of difficulties overcome and lives well lived into a timeless book filled with the hard-won advice these older Americans wish someone had given them when they were young. Like This I Believe, StoryCorps's Listening Is an Act of Love, and Tuesdays with Morrie, 30 Lessons for Living is a book to keep and to give. Offering clear advice toward a more fulfilling life, it is as useful as it is inspiring.

Philosophy for an Ending World

Author : Tim Mulgan
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 342 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2024-04-01
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780192668875

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Philosophy for an Ending World by Tim Mulgan Pdf

Tim Mulgan introduces a new thought experiment: the world will end in two hundred years, and humanity faces imminent and unavoidable (but not immediate) extinction. This book presents imaginary philosophical debates and lectures within this slowly ending world. The Ending World is both a provocative thought experiment and a challenging possible future. Exploring it from within - adopting the perspective of philosophers living in that ending world - helps us to imagine this world from the inside, to evaluate it as a possible future, to discover what we owe to future people who might inhabit such a future, and to explore how we might justify ourselves to them. The book explores contemporary debates about pessimism, the meaning of life, the existence of God, the purpose of the universe, the permissibility of creating new people, the need to connect with past and future people, the rectification of historical injustice, the design of utopias, and the desirability of escaping into virtual realities. It draws on a wide range of work in contemporary philosophy - including Samuel Scheffler's discussions of human extinction, Jonathan Lear's exploration of radical hope, David Benatar's anti-natalism, work on procreative ethics by Rivka Weinberg, Melinda Roberts, and Elizabeth Harman, and the author's own previous work on collective consequentialism, future ethics, and alternative conceptions of divine purpose. A central question throughout the book is whether we could equip our descendants to flourish in an ending world, even if we cannot imagine flourishing there ourselves. The book defends an innovative account of our obligations to future people, based on the need to launch multigenerational projects to transform our inherited traditions and values so that they will still make sense even at humanity's end.

The Rejection of Consequentialism

Author : Samuel Scheffler
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 133 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 1994-08-11
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780191040160

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The Rejection of Consequentialism by Samuel Scheffler Pdf

In contemporary philosophy, substantive moral theories are typically classified as either consequentialist or deontological. Standard consequentialist theories insist, roughly, that agents must always act so as to produce the best available outcomes overall. Standard deontological theories, by contrast, maintain that there are some circumstances where one is permitted but not required to produce the best overall results, and still other circumstances in which one is positively forbidden to do so. Classical utilitarianism is the most familiar consequentialist view, but it is widely regarded as an inadequate account of morality. Although Professor Scheffler agrees with this assessment, he also believes that consequentialism seems initially plausible, and that there is a persistent air of paradox surrounding typical deontological views. In this book, therefore, he undertakes to reconsider the rejection of consequentialism. He argues that it is possible to provide a rationale for the view that agents need not always produce the best possible overall outcomes, and this motivates one departure from consequentialism; but he shows that it is surprisingly difficult to provide a satisfactory rationale for the view that there are times when agents must not produce the best possible overall outcomes. He goes on to argue for a hitherto neglected type of moral conception, according to which agents are always permitted, but not always required, to produce the best outcomes.

Salary For Life: For You & Future Generations

Author : Henry Mah
Publisher : Henry Mah, CMA
Page : 179 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2021-12-08
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN : 9781777241087

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Salary For Life: For You & Future Generations by Henry Mah Pdf

You’ve probably heard the saying “money doesn’t grow on trees”. Usually this is a warning not to take money for granted, that money is a limited resource and is not easily acquired. But I disagree. A small initial investment, given the right elements, discipline and time, can grow big and strong, and provide income for generations. So, yes, money can grow on trees! That’s the essence of what we’ll discuss within the pages of this book. I am offering readers an investment strategy, for everyone of all ages, regardless of your financial position or your current earnings. I’ll show you how, by applying a simple approach to investing, you can produce an income stream, a never-ending source of money that can become your own Salary for Life. By focusing on you at particular times of life: young and single, as parents, even as grandparents, I will show you how to get started with a straightforward savings and investing plan. The goal of financial security during retirement could not be more within reach, or easier to achieve, than is it today. By learning about my Income Growth Investment Strategy, I hope that you’ll be able to say, “Is it really that simple?” And just as there are things you should do at the beginning of your life, you need to be prepared for the end as well. It’s a topic which too many ignore. Don’t leave a mess for your dependents to sort out. Instead, make the decisions while you are in control, ensure your estate and assets are handled and distributed exactly as you wish.