PHIL 727

Ethics 2

Please note: this is archived course information from 2022 for PHIL 727.

Description

A prominent topic in recent moral theory is what present people owe to future people – those who will (or might) exist in the future. Debate centres on a set of theoretical puzzles posed in Part Four of Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons.  Can you wrong someone if your actions are also responsible for their existence? What is the ideal population size? Can we imagine a contract with distant future people? How should we balance the interests of present and future people? Does it matter whether there are any future people at all? What moral weight should we attach to risks of imminent human extinction?

 

Assessment: Coursework only

Availability 2022

Not taught in 2022

Lecturer(s)

Lecturer(s) Professor Timothy Mulgan

Points

PHIL 727: 15 points