Climate change and the Non-Identity Problem in Derek Parfit’s work
| Thesis title in Czech: | Klimatická změna a problém neidentity v díle Dereka Parfita |
|---|---|
| Thesis title in English: | Climate change and the Non-Identity Problem in Derek Parfit’s work |
| Key words: | Derek Parfit|problém neidentity|klimatická změna|globální oteplování|odpudivý závěr|újma|benefit|etika klimatické změny|environmentální etika|populační etika |
| English key words: | Derek Parfit|Non-Identity Problem|climate change|global warming|Repugnant Conclusion|harm|benefit|climate change ethics|environmental ethics|population ethics |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2021/2022 |
| Thesis type: | diploma thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Institute of Philosophy and Religious Studies (21-UFAR) |
| Supervisor: | doc. Jakub Jirsa, Ph.D. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 07.03.2022 |
| Date of assignment: | 07.03.2022 |
| Administrator's approval: | not processed yet |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 16.03.2022 |
| Date and time of defence: | 02.02.2023 09:00 |
| Date of electronic submission: | 22.12.2022 |
| Date of proceeded defence: | 02.02.2023 |
| Submitted/finalized: | committed by student and finalized |
| Opponents: | Tomáš Hříbek, Ph.D. |
| Guidelines |
| I intend to explore with Derek Parfit how we can coherently explain that some acts are bad even though they do not harm future people because of the Non-Identity Problem. I would like to relate this theoretical question to the example of global warming and climate change, which Parfit considers in different contexts. I will use this example in the form defined by Jeff McMahan in his article Climate Change, War, and the Non-Identity Problem (as the Same Number Choice). Firstly I will describe the nature of the Non-Identity Problem and its relevance for climate change example. Then I will show how Parfit fails to solve it in his first book Reasons and Persons and ends up with the Repugnant Conclusion or Absurd Conclusions. Then I want to investigate what solution – so-called Theory X, brings Parfit on a table in his last unfinished article Future People, the Non-Identity Problem, and Person-Affecting Principles, and whether this solution can help to explain the badness of causing global warming. I would like to argue that Parfit formulated an approach by which he can fix the deficiencies of the Person-Affecting Principles if applied to the case of climate change. My intended project is descriptive, I am interested in the explanation of badness in Non-Identity cases and that does not involve Parfit’s normative theory. Furthermore, I do not hope to fully solve whether Parfit found complete Theory X, I will focus only on specifically defined example of climate change. |
| References |
| Boonin, David. „Parfit and the Non-Identity Problem“. In Gardiner, Stephen (vyd.), Oxford Handbook of Intergenerational Ethics (dosud nepublikováno). Boonin, David. The Non-Identity Problem and the Ethics of Future People. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. Broome, John. „Discounting the Future“. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 23 (1994), s. 128–156. McMahan, Jeff. „Climate Change, War, and the Non-Identity Problem“. Journal of Moral Philosophy 18 (2021), s. 211-238. Nedevska, Jasmina. „The non-identity problem in climate ethics: A restatement“. Intergenerational Justice Review 2 (2019), s. 63-68. Parfit, Derek. „Future People, the Non-Identity Problem, and Person-Affecting Principles“. Philosophy & Public Affairs 45 (2017), s. 118-157. Parfit, Derek. Reasons and Persons. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. Williston, Byron. The Ethics of Climate Change: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2019. |