The ethics of future persons, contractualism and directed duties

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Kirsten Meyer
• Subject Area: Practical Philosophy
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 459736377

This project inquires whether we have directed duties towards future persons and whether moral contractualism can provide a satisfactory theoretical foundation of such duties. Moral contractualism understands morality as a hypothetical agreement between reasoning agents in a relation of mutual recognition. Acts are morally wrong if the principles allowing the act can be reasonably rejected as a basis for general agreement. Is moral contractualism well suited to account for the claims of future people? Does it provide a solution to the non-identity problem? Is it necessary to search for an alternative justification of directed duties, or even to drop the assumption that we have directed duties towards future persons? What implications does this entail for the content of our moral obligations towards future persons?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants