Page, Edward (1998) Intergenerational ethics and climate change. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Global climate change has important implications for the way in which benefits and
burdens will be distributed amongst present and future generations. As a result, it
raises important questions of intergenerational distributive ethics, which is the issue
of how benefits and burdens should be distributed across generations. It is shown that
two serious problems arise for those who wish to approach these questions by
utilising familiar ethical principles. The first (the Non-Reciprocity Problem) arises
from the apparent lack of reciprocity evident in dealings between members of
different generations. The second (the Non-Identity Problem) arises from the fact that
the very social policies which climatologists and scientists claim will reduce the risks
of climate change will also predictably, if indirectly, determine which individuals will
live in the future. The troubling questions which these problems raise for theorising
about intergenerational ethics are discussed at length, and it is argued that they do not,
ultimately, pose an insurmountable barrier for such theorising, and in particular for
the idea that present persons have wide ranging obligations to members of future
generations. It is argued, however, that these two problems do severely limit the
extent to which theories which are reciprocity-based and/or identity-dependent can be
extended to cover issues of intergenerational distribution. Reciprocity-based theories
assume that obligations of distributive ethics are owed only to those who can benefit
others; whereas identity-dependent theories assume that acts, or social policies,
cannot violate the requirements of distributive ethics if they do not harm, or
disadvantage, particular individuals. Some positive grounds for our obligations to
future generations are also outlined. In particular, the idea that members of existing
generations ought not act so as to undermine the integrity of various future
communities, such as nations or cultures, is defended.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Climatic changes -- Moral and ethical aspects, Conflict of generations
Official Date:	January 1998
Dates:	Date Event January 1998 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hurley, S. L. (Susan L.) ; Williams, Andrew, 1963-
Extent:	296 p.
Language:	eng

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