The Future of Utilitarianism
In Rationis Defensor (2012)
| Abstract | Climate change has obvious practical implications. It will kill millions of people, wipe out thousands of species, and so on. My question in this paper is much narrower. How might climate change impact on moral theory – and especially on the debate between utilitarians and their non-utilitarian rivals? I argue that climate change creates serious theoretical difficulties for non-utilitarian moral theories – especially those that based morality or justice on any contract or bargain for reciprocal advantage. Climate change thus tips the dialectical balance in favour of utilitarianism. However, I also argue that, because it upsets assumptions that lie behind the most plausible forms of modern utilitarianism, climate change may also push utilitarianism in a more austere and demanding direction. | |||||||||
| Keywords | Climate Change Utilitarianism Moral theory | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,875 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesTim Mulgan (2012). The Future of Utilitarianism. In James Maclaurin (ed.), Rationis Defensor.
Bernward Gesang (2013). What Climate Policy Can a Utilitarian Justify? Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 26 (2):377-392.
Deborah Vidaver-Cohen (1998). Moral Climate in Business Firms: A Conceptual Framework for Analysis and Change. Journal of Business Ethics 17 (11):1211-1226.
Evangelos D. Protopapadakis (2012). Climate Change: A Challenge for Ethics. In Walter Leal Filho Evangelos Manolas (ed.), English through Climate Change. Democritus University of Thrace.
Dan C. Shahar (2009). Justice and Climate Change: Toward a Libertarian Analysis. The Independent Review 14 (2):219-237.
Duane Windsor (2009). Global Justice and Global Climate Change. Proceedings of the International Association for Business and Society 20:23-34.
S. Matthew Liao, Anders Sandberg & Rebecca Roache (2012). Human Engineering and Climate Change. Ethics, Policy and Environment 15 (2):206 - 221.
Dale Jamieson (forthcoming). Climate Change, Responsibility, and Justice. Science and Engineering Ethics.
Melany Banks (2013). Individual Responsibility for Climate Change. Southern Journal of Philosophy 51 (1):42-66.
Anders Nordgren (2012). Ethical Issues in Mitigation of Climate Change: The Option of Reduced Meat Production and Consumption. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 25 (4):563-584.
Sarina Keller (2010). Scientization: Putting Global Climate Change on the Scientific Agenda and the Role of the IPCC. Poiesis and Praxis 7 (3):197-209.
Holly L. Wilson (2010). Divine Sovereignty and The Global Climate Change Debate. Essays in Philosophy 12 (1):8-15.
Mark A. Seabright (2011). The Role of the Affect Heuristic in Moral Reactions to Climate Change. Journal of Global Ethics 6 (1):5-15.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2012-06-11Total downloads17 ( #72,058 of 556,837 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #64,931 of 556,837 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
