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- Title
Non-Identity for Non-Humans.
- Authors
Purves, Duncan; Hale, Benjamin
- Abstract
This article introduces a non-human version of the non-identity problem and suggests that such a variation exposes weaknesses in several proposed person-focused solutions to the classic version of the problem. It suggests first that person-affecting solutions fail when applied to non-human animals and, second, that many common moral arguments against climate change should be called into question. We argue that a more inclusive version of the person-affecting principle, which we call the 'patient-affecting principle', captures more accurately the moral challenge posed by the non-identity problem. We argue further that the failure of person-affecting solutions to solve non-human versions of the problem lend support to impersonal solutions to the problem which avoid issues of personhood or species identity. Finally, we conclude that some environmental arguments against climate change that rely on the notion of personal harm should be recast in impersonal terms.
- Subjects
CLIMATE change; PERSONALITY (Theory of knowledge); PARFIT, Derek, 1942-2017; EFFECT of climate on polar bears; ENVIRONMENTAL degradation
- Publication
Ethical Theory & Moral Practice, 2016, Vol 19, Issue 5, p1165
- ISSN
1386-2820
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10677-016-9752-3