The pivotal generation : why we have a moral responsibility to slow climate change right now / Henry Shue.
| Author/creator | Shue, Henry author. |
| Format | Electronic |
| Publication | Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2021] |
| Description | 1 online resource |
| Supplemental Content | JSTOR |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. The Pivotal Generation: "You Are Here" -- Illusions of Separation -- The Context That Makes Us Pivotal -- Arbitrary Demands? -- Unique Historical Period, Incomparable Moral Responsibility -- Heavier Burdens -- Unlimited Threats -- Tipping Points -- Conclusion -- 2. The Presence of the Past -- Owning Our National Past -- Disowning Our National Past -- The Pure Fairness Argument -- The Wrongful Imposition Arguments -- Conclusion -- 3. Engagement across Distance and Engagement across Time -- The Phenomenology of Agency -- The Danger of Transition |
| Contents | Contemporary "Strangers" and the Affordability of Alternative Energy -- Future "Strangers" and Tipping Points -- The Date-of-Last-Opportunity to Prevent Disaster -- Further Reasons? Past Sacrifice, Hope, and Continuity -- Conclusion -- 4. Are There Second Chances on Climate Change? -- Fix It Later? -- Contrasting Purposes of CO2 Removal -- Scaling Up in Time? -- Bequeathing Risks -- The Reversible and the Irreversible -- 5. Taking Control of Our Legacy -- Powerful Enemies, Allied Masses -- Planning the "Final Harvest": Deceptive Delay -- Enabling the "Final Harvest": Banks' BAU |
| Contents | Preventing the "Final Harvest": The Active Many vs. the Ruthless Few -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix on Inequality -- Notes -- Index |
| Abstract | "We all recognize that climate change is a supremely important issue of our time, which requires both trans-national and trans-generational collaboration and shared responsibility. What we haven't yet fully appreciated, argues political philosopher Henry Shue, are the ethical considerations surrounding the fact that the next one or two decades will determine whether climate change, which already has led us to dangerous effects, will surge into inescapably disastrous effects. The people alive today thus represent a pivotal generation in human history. For the past two centuries humans have undermined our climate at an increasing rate, in ways that the present generations are the first to fully understand, and the last to be able to reverse. But our responsibility for decisive and immediate action rests on three special features of the relation of our present to the future, that many have failed to realize (1) future generations face dangers greater than ours even if we act robustly, (2) the worsening dangers for future generations are currently without limit, and (3) a less robust effort by us is likely to allow climate change to pass critical tipping points for severely worse and potentially unavoidable future dangers. Shue, a renowned scholar of ethics, politics and international relations who has been studying the ethics of climate change for the last two decades, guides us through what our ethical responsibilities to others are, both across the world but especially over time, and what those commitments require us to do in addressing the climate change crisis, now and forcefully"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Source of description | Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on January 20, 2022). |
| Issued in other form | Print version: Shue, Henry. Pivotal generation Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2021] 9780691226248 |
| LCCN | 2021013540 |
| ISBN | 0691220077 electronic book |
| ISBN | 9780691226255 electronic book |
| ISBN | 0691226253 electronic book |
| ISBN | 9780691220079 (electronic bk.) |
| ISBN | hardcover acid-free paper |
| Stock number | 22573/ctv1pb23sj JSTOR |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Resources | Access Content Online | ✔ Available |