Comparing Consequentialist Solutions to the Nonidentity Problem
This paper explores the nonidentity problem, an influential puzzle in modern ethics which addresses the nature of our moral responsibilities towards future generations. I begin by laying out the two conflicting intuitions comprising the problem and providing several examples to illustrate how we con...
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| Format: | Others |
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Scholarship @ Claremont
2013
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| Online Access: | http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/635 http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1628&context=cmc_theses |
| Summary: | This paper explores the nonidentity problem, an influential puzzle in modern ethics which addresses the nature of our moral responsibilities towards future generations. I begin by laying out the two conflicting intuitions comprising the problem and providing several examples to illustrate how we conceive of the moral status of future people. I then examine two versions of consequentialism, averagism and totalism, which circumvent the nonidentity problem. However, these two solutions each pose their own respective problems; thus, I argue that a modification of totalism – the critical level view – is the most viable consequentialist answer to the nonidentity problem. |
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