You are saying is that there are difficult moral decisions to be made. That is certainly true.
That is different from saying that this poses new questions for the academic discipline of philosophy. I see philosophy as a discipline that is largely aimed at identifying truths that are mainly independent of empirical facts (although sometimes consideration of empirical facts can lead us to see truths that are fundamentally independent of those facts). Furthermore, sometimes empirical facts change the meanings of words in ways that change the truth value of statements. Neuroscience has perhaps influenced philosophy of mind or philosophy of language in this way. There are many problems that pose ethical dilemmas that demand moral thought and reflection, where the choice of action clearly depends on empirical facts, but these dilemmas typically do not pose fundamentally new problems for philosophical investigation. I just don't understand what the new philosophical research is that needs to be done in the field of geoengineering ( as opposed to applying old philosophical insights to new empirical facts ). On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 11:38 PM, Jamais Cascio <[email protected]>wrote: > I think it's primarily a question of scale. The underlying philosophical > questions aren't new, but the scale at which the questions apply -- in > terms of both time and geography -- is comparable to only a few other > issues (most notably, nuclear weapons). There are few substantive issues > that have this kind of (literally) planetary-level importance coupled with > the condition of being direct human choices (as opposed to second-order > consequences). > > In other words, getting this wrong could screw over nearly everyone, > potentially for multiple generations. > > -Jamais Cascio > > > > On Apr 6, 2012, at 2:27 PM, Ken Caldeira wrote: > > Having but an undergraduate degree in Philosophy, you can forgive me for > asking stupid questions, but ... > > Does geoengineering raise any ethical issues not already considered by > historical figures such as Aristotle, Hume, Kant, and so on? > > Isn't the ethics of making decisions that affect others not involved in > making the decisions a problem as old as humanity? > > I just don't understand how there is anything new here for philosophy. > > Surely there are difficult decisions to be made with moral dimensions, but > I just can't imagine how geoengineering could pose fundamentally new > philosophic problems. > > Perhaps someone can compensate for my failure of imagination and tell me > in what way geoengineering poses fundamentally new philosophic problems not > previously addressed. > > > > > _______________ > Ken Caldeira > > Carnegie Institution Dept of Global Ecology > 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA > +1 650 704 7212 [email protected] > http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab @kencaldeira > > *Currently visiting * Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies > (IASS)<http://www.iass-potsdam.de/> > > *and *Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Resarch > (PIK)<http://www.pik-potsdam.de/> > *in Potsdam, Germany.* > > > > On Fri, Apr 6, 2012 at 10:58 PM, Andrea Gammon <[email protected]>wrote: > >> The Mansfield Center for Ethics and Public Affairs at the University of >> Montana (with support from the National Science Foundation) is pleased to >> announce the launch of the Ethics of Geoengineering Online Resource Center. >> >> We have attempted to make this an exhaustive resource for materials, >> organizations, and events related to geoengineering and ethics. We will >> continue to work to make the site increasingly comprehensive, accessible, >> and engaging. We welcome feedback and suggestions about significant >> resources that are not yet included. Please bring to our attention any >> papers, events, and other media you think may be missing. >> >> Visit the site at: >> <https://ch1prd0102.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=OWAMf8GxrUmH3DmLPhvEmRVCg4-F5s4Ia3rgDEllyFha_7YuC8CjtGrFU9mOVuqXWwDCLmctAsw.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.umt.edu%2fethics%2fresourcecenter%2fdefault.php> >> http://www.umt.edu/ethics/resourcecenter/default.php >> >> Please email feedback or suggestions to <[email protected]> >> [email protected] >> >> Thanks! >> >> Andrea Gammon >> Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Philosophy >> University of Montana, '13 >> >> Christopher Preston >> Associate Professor of Philosophy and Fellow at the Program on Ethics and >> Public Affairs >> University of Montana >> * >> * >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "geoengineering" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. >> > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering?hl=en. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. 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