What future generations need from us
Abstract What do future generations need from us? Various procedures, including individual and group role playing at 13 locations in nine countries, can help us answer this question. In general, future generations need equal opportunity (a legacy as beneficial as ours was), our caring about their well-being, and attention to their needs in our legislatures and parliaments. Their particular needs are for us to focus on peace and security, the environment, the worst risks of all, governance, the knowledge base, children and learning. The needs of future generations may provide the centrepiece for a new global ethic that improves our prospects for a positive future.
Colonizing mars—An opportunity for reconsidering bioethical standards and obligations to future generations
Abstract The exploration and settlement of Mars provides a rare opportunity to reconsider our ethical, political, philosophical, and economic relationships with non-human life (very broadly defined) relatively free of many of the constraints that have framed and limited our analyses throughout our many histories. Manned and robotic exploration throughout and beyond our solar system also fosters reconsideration of our obligations to future generations and allows for expansion of membership in the class that constitutes those generations. This paper argues that the concept of “future generations” should not be limited to Homo sapiens , as currently defined. Opportunities for a higher ethical standard within the context of the discovery of extraterrestrial life are discussed in terms of a thought experiment and mechanisms to allow future generations to be represented in these ethical discussions are suggested.
The Supreme Court in modern role
Criticism and hostility may tarnish the reputation of the Court and limit its symbolic authority, even when counterbalanced by praise from admirers of challenged decisions and may cause thoughtful observers to withhold legitimate and badly needed criticism. The purpose of this revised edition is to illuminate for the general reader chosen segments of the Court's performance, and to aid those who are confused by highly controversial and often emotionalized popular discussion.