Why Posterity Matters: Environmental Policies and Future Generations / Edition 1

by Avner De-Shalit

Overview

Why Posterity Matters is the first comprehensive philosophical examination of our duties to future generations. It appears at a time when it is becoming increasingly obvious that we can no longer exploit the environment without causing risks for posterity.

Dr de-Shalit argues that our obligations towards new generations are a matter of justice, not of charity or supererogation. It becomes our duty to consider them when we distribute access to natural resources, decide on environmental policies and plan budgets. This raises problems for conventional theories of justice. Why Posterity Matters puts forward a new communitarian theory of intergenerational justice, which can serve as the moral basis for environmental policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415100199
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/15/1994
Series:	Environmental Philosophies
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Avner de-Shalit is a lecturer in environmental ethics and politics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the co-editor of a book on communitarianism and individualism and the author of numerous articles on environmental ethics and politics.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Chapter 1 The Transgenerational Community; Chapter 2 Applications of The Theory; Chapter 3 The Utilitarian Theory and The Not-Yet-Born; Chapter 4 Contractarian Theories of Intergenerational Justice; Chapter 5 Rights of Future People; Chapter 6 Summary and Open Questions;