Topic: Climate Justice.

The topic of the course this quarter is climate justice, with an emphasis on responsibilities to future generations. The kinds of questions we are likely to discuss include: What would constitute a just allocation of the burdens of climate change? Should protecting the global poor be the overriding aim of international climate policy? Is it appropriate to adopt a positive social discount rate for future generations, as economists typically do? Should we “make the grandchildren pay” for climate action? Is climate change a “tragedy of the commons” or something worse? What are we individually required to do about global and intergenerational problems of this sort? This course is a graduate seminar in philosophy. Advanced students in other disciplines interested in taking the course should consult with the instructor.

TEXTS: (Required) A Perfect Moral Storm, Stephen Gardiner; (Recommended) Climate Ethics: Essential Readings, Stephen Gardiner, Simon Caney, Henry Shue, Dale Jamieson, eds.; Debating Climate Ethics, Stephen Gardiner and David Weisbach.