ABSTRACT
Reciprocity requires to transmit things that are genuine goods for future generations, it is true that if people's have no clear conception of what will be good for them, then they will be baffled about how to act. Sustained philosophical inquiry into the topic of obligations to future generations seems to be a recent phenomenon. A careful combing of the classics in moral philosophy would probably uncover a good many remarks in passing on the subject. In popular lore, if present practices are any indication, there appears to be an acceptance of some sort of reciprocity principle in these matters. The hypothesis in evolutionary biology that individuals tend to maximize inclusive fitness suggests a genetic predisposition to favor close relatives over distant ones, and distance may be defined along the line of succeeding generations as well as among contemporaries.
