Collection
Emotions Towards Future Generations
Since the second half of the 20th century, intergenerational justice has become a central theme of moral philosophical reflection. The questions raised by issues such as the anthropogenic causes of climate change or the sustainability of public debt have prompted many scholars to inquire what duties we owe to future generations and what it means to treat them fairly, exploring the possibility of considering them as rights-bearers.
The literature on the subject has highlighted a wide range of reasons why these problems are difficult to solve: the diachronic perspective of traditional accounts of justice; the non-identity problem; the lack of reciprocity between actual and future gnerations; the psychological boundaries of human responsibility. All these problems make issues of justice towards the unborn difficult to solve. However, there is a further challenge that has not yet been adequately confronted: the problem of people’s motivation to act for the sake of future individuals’ welfare. Indeed, insofar as they do not yet exist, they are abstract, vague and very distant entities, and this seems to narrow our ability to be emotionally concerned for their fate.
The purpose of this monographic issue is to examine the affectivity towards future generations: is it possible – and, if so, how – to feel emotions for them? Are these emotions akin to those felt towards fictional characters? (And, if so, does this give rise to paradoxes, such as the so-called “paradox of fiction”?). Do the emotions we feel towards the unborn have peculiar features? What strategies can we use to cultivate and consolidate them? To address these questions, we will host contributions from philosophers of emotions, moral psychologists, moral philosophers, philosophers of literature and theoretical philosophers.
Editors
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Tiziana Andina
Tiziana Andina is Full Professor of Philosophy at the University of Turin (Italy). She is an expert in metaphysics and ontology with a specialization in social ontology and philosophy of art. Since 2016, she has been the director of the Labont – Center for Ontology at the University of Turin. Her recent publications concern social ontology, transgenerational actions, and the relationship between generations and problems of social justice. She is co-editor of the international journal Brill Research Perspectives in Art and Law and the editor of Rivista di Estetica. e-mail: tiziana.andina@unito.it
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Giulio Sacco
Giulio Sacco is Postdoc Research Fellow at the University of Turin (Italy), where he is a member of the Labont – Center for Ontology, dealing with the project “Documenting Transgenerationality”. He obtained a PhD in Human Sciences at the University of Perugia. His research interests cover both theoretical and practical issues, ranging from rhetoric and public discussion – especially with reference to Aristotle – to moral psychology. His area of specialization is the philosophy of emotions. e-mail: giulio.sacco@unito.it
