Responsibility for Future Climate Justice: The Direct Responsibility to Mitigate Structural Injustice for Future Generations

Journal of Applied Philosophy 40 (4):642-657 (2023)
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Abstract

In this article we argue that duties towards future generations are situated on the collective level and that they should be understood in terms of collective responsibility for structural injustice. In the context of climate change, it seems self‐evident that our moral duties pertain not only to the current generation but to future generations as well. However, conceptualizing this leads to the non‐identity problem: future persons cannot be harmed by present‐day choices because they would not have existed if other choices had been made. Recently, Charlotte Franziska Unruh has proposed a solution that places the duties not on the individual level but on the collective level. The current generation has a responsibility for future generations as a whole. This solution is promising, but we argue that it problematically overlooks the existence of unjust relations within the contemporary collective, as we all contribute differently to bringing future generations into existence. Therefore, we propose to graft Iris Marion Young's Social Connection Model, which is concerned with structural injustice, on to the discussion of responsibility for future generations. Our proposal incorporates the strengths of Unruh's arguments, while also allowing for a differentiated responsibility based on different implications in unjust structures.

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Boris Robert Van Meurs
Radboud University Nijmegen

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References found in this work

Climate change and the duties of the advantaged.Simon Caney - 2010 - Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 13 (1):203-228.
Responsibility for climate justice: Political not moral.Michael Christopher Sardo - 2020 - Sage Publications: European Journal of Political Theory 22 (1):26-50.
The Right to Parent and Duties Concerning Future Generations.Anca Gheaus - 2016 - Journal of Political Philosophy 24 (1):487-508.
Responsibility for climate justice: Political not moral.Michael Christopher Sardo - 2020 - European Journal of Political Theory 22 (1):26-50.

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