Philosophical Forum 35 (3):371–391 (2004)
Authors | |
Abstract |
Some people feel distressed reflecting on human extinction. Some people even claim that our efforts and lives would be empty and pointless if humanity becomes extinct, even if this will not occur for millions of years. In this essay, I will attempt to demonstrate that this claim is false. The desire for long-lastingness or quasi-immortality is often unwittingly adopted as a standard for judging whether our efforts are significant. If we accomplish our goals and then later in life conclude that these accomplishments were of no significance, then this is a sign that the desire for long-lastingness has crept into our standards. By recognizing this, and refraining from adopting an unreasonable standard to judge whether our efforts are significant, it will be to our advantage. Then, when we look back on life from an external perspective that encompasses times after humanity has become extinct, we will not conclude that our efforts amounted to nothing. Rather, we will conclude that many people made significant accomplishments that made their lives and the lives of other people better than they would have been if their goals had never been pursued.
|
Keywords | Human Extinction Meaning of Life Meaning in Life Future Generations |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-9191.2004.00178.x |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement. A Summary.Arne Naess - 1973 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 16 (1-4):95 – 100.
The Shallow and the Deep, Lono-Ranoe Eooloov Movement.Arne Naess - forthcoming - Environmental Ethics.
View all 8 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
The Meaning of Life (Second Revised Edition).Thaddeus Metz - 2021 - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Recent Work on the Meaning of Life and Philosophy of Religion.T. J. Mawson - 2013 - Philosophy Compass 8 (12):1138-1146.
Life, Meaning Of.Thaddeus Metz - 2015 - In Henk ten Have (ed.), Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer. pp. 1-6.
Standards, Perspectives, and the Meaning of Life: A Reply to Seachris. [REVIEW]Iddo Landau - 2014 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (3):457-468.
View all 9 citations / Add more citations
Similar books and articles
What's It All About?:Philosophy and the Meaning of Life: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life.Julian Baggini - 2005 - Oxford University Press.
Ethical Issues in Whale and Small Cetacean Management.James E. Scarff - 1980 - Environmental Ethics 2 (3):241-279.
Life-Centered Ethics, and the Human Future in Space.Michael N. Mautner - 2009 - Bioethics 23 (8):433-440.
Environmental Ethics and Intergenerational Equity.Robin Attfield - 1998 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 41 (2):207 – 222.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2009-01-28
Total views
2,400 ( #1,669 of 2,499,241 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
173 ( #3,360 of 2,499,241 )
2009-01-28
Total views
2,400 ( #1,669 of 2,499,241 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
173 ( #3,360 of 2,499,241 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads