Reasons of Well-being & Intergenerational Ethics

Andrew Moore (University of Otago)

This paper focuses on reasons of well-being generated by one’s relations to worldly entities bigger than oneself, such as certain groups, traditions, practices, etc, of which one is a member or a part. Examples might include humanity, music, Australasians, philosophy, and complex life on earth. The paper considers whether such entities bigger-than-me can themselves be subjects of well-being, and whether one’s relations to such entities can generate for one significant reasons of well-being. Issues of this sort have been widely discussed in theological settings, but less so in philosophical settings.