Climate change has become the most pressing moral and political problem of our time. Ethical theories help us think clearly and more fully about important moral and political issues. And yet, to date, there have been no books that have brought together a broad range of ethical theories to apply them systematically to the problems of climate change. This volume fills that deep need. Two preliminary chaptersan up-to-date synopsis of climate science and an overview of the ethical issues raised by climate changeset the stage. After this, ten leading ethicists in ten separate chapters each present a major ethical theory (or, more broadly, perspective) and discuss the implications of that view for how we decide to respond to a rapidly warming planet. Each chapter first provides a brief exposition of the view before working out what that theory has to say about climate change and our response to the problems it poses.
Key features:
Up-to-date synopsis of climate science
Clear overviews of a wide range of ethical theories and perspectives by leading experts
Insightful discussions of the implications of these theories and perspectives for our response to climate change
A unique opportunity to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of various ethical viewpoints.
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List of Figures and Tables |
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vii | |
| Contributors |
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viii | |
| Introduction |
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1 | (5) |
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1 Modern Climate Change: A Symptom of a Single-Species High-Energy Pulse |
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6 | (29) |
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2 Ethical Challenges Posed by Climate Change: An Overview |
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35 | (23) |
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3 Procreation, Carbon Tax, and Poverty: An Act-Consequentialist Climate-Change Agenda |
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58 | (20) |
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4 The Rule-Consequentialist Response to Climate Change |
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78 | (21) |
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5 Kant and Climate Change: A Territorial Rights Approach |
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99 | (17) |
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6 Contractualism and Climate Change |
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116 | (23) |
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7 Contractarianism and Climate Change |
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139 | (18) |
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8 Natural Law Theory and Climate Change |
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157 | (20) |
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9 Virtue Ethics and Climate Change |
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177 | (16) |
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10 From Caring to Counter-Consumption: Feminist Moral Perspectives on Consumerism and Climate Change |
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193 | (22) |
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11 Pragmatist Ethics and Climate Change |
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215 | (23) |
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12 Phenomenology and the Ethics of Difference: Levinas, Responsibility, and Climate Change |
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238 | (20) |
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| Index |
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258 | |
Dale E. Miller is a Professor of Philosophy at Old Dominion University and the editor-in-chief of Utilitas . He is the author of J. S. Mill: Moral, Social and Political Thought (2010) and he is a co-editor of Rules, Morality, and Consequences (2000); John Stuart Mill and the Art of Life (2011); The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism (2014); and A Companion to Mill (2017).
Ben Eggleston is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas. He is the editor of Utilitarianism: With Related Remarks from Mills Other Writings, by John Stuart Mill (2017), and a co-editor of John Stuart Mill and the Art of Life (2011) and The Cambridge Companion to Utilitarianism (2014). His research interests include normative ethics, rational choice theory, and philosophy of law.
