ABSTRACT
The philosophical literature on future generations centres on a debate between two types of ethical theory: those theories which hold that we have ethical obligations only to those with whom we have reciprocal relations of a specified kind; and those that start from a purely impersonal perspective. Two forms of ethical theory are typical of the first approach:
(1) Ethical theories according to which the point of moral rules is to serve as a means by which individuals of limited altruism can realize their long-term interests in conditions where they are roughly equal in power and vulnerability-Humean and contractarian theories of justice and obligation provide standard examples;1
(2) Ethical theories according to which we have moral obligations only to those who belong to our moral community or to whom we have special ties-Golding is the theorist most often cited in discussion of this view.2
