Do Future Persons Have Rights?

“Longtermism” is the philosophical view that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority. Proponents argue that future persons are as morally important as those alive today. Since it is reasonable to expect that there will be many more total persons in the future than there are now, they conclude that we have a moral responsibility to ensure that future generations get to survive and flourish. But do we think that this is the case? Do people not yet alive have their own moral worth? Are we really responsible for what happens to them? And, if we are, what are we supposed to do about it today? Join us as we discuss the future, our descendants, and some of the many kinds of accidents that could happen to the human race between now and the far-off future these descendants inhabit.