Neutrality, rebirth and intergenerational justice

Journal of Applied Philosophy 19 (1):3–15 (2002)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

A basic feature of liberal political philosophy is its commitment to religious neut‐rality. Contemporary philosophical discussion of intergenerational justice violates this com‐mitment, as it proceeds on the basis of controversial metaphysical assumptions. The Contractualist notion of a power imbalance between generations and Derek Parfit’s non‐identity claims both presuppose that humans are not reborn. Yet belief in rebirth underlies Hindu and Buddhist traditions espoused by millions throughout the world. These traditions clearly constitute what John Rawls dubs “reasonable comprehensive doctrines”, and therefore cannot be dismissed by political liberals. In many societies, including the USA, the UK, and India, belief in rebirth exists alongside other traditions, as well as modern Western views. A liberal theory for such societies must be impartial regarding rebirth, and the after‐life in general. Two alternatives forms of liberal neutrality are sketched, based on Contractualism and Consequentialism.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive

    This entry is not archived by us. If you are the author and have permission from the publisher, we recommend that you archive it. Many publishers automatically grant permission to authors to archive pre-prints. By uploading a copy of your work, you will enable us to better index it, making it easier to find.

    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 102,440

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
48 (#470,967)

6 months
4 (#1,131,583)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Tim Mulgan
University of Auckland

Citations of this work

on Justice to Future Generations.David Heyd - 2009 - In Gosseries Axel & Meyer Lukas H. (eds.), Intergenerational Justice. Oxford, Royaume-Uni: Oxford University Press. pp. 167.
An Easier Way to Become a Buddha?Fuchuan Yao - 2012 - Asian Philosophy 22 (2):121-132.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references