ABSTRACT
Where did we start and where have we gone to so far? We started with the aim of research. Ever since Greek antiquity, the notion of justice has been in the centre of intense philosophical debates. Nevertheless, systematic concepts and theories of justice between non-overlapping generations have only been developed in the last few decades. This delay can be explained by the fact that the impact of man’s scope of action has increased. Only since the 20th century has modern technology given us the potential to irreversibly jeopardize the fate of mankind and nature for centuries to come. In Plato’s or Kant’s days, people did not have the same problems with regard to the environment, pension schemes and national debts as we have today. Therefore, there was no objective need for theories of justice that were unlimited in space and time. According to Hans Jonas, the new territory man has conquered by high technology is still no-man’s-land for ethical theory. As mentioned in Chapter 1, this book is meant to contribute to exploring that no-man’s-land.
