Bitesize Ethics Summer Programme 2023 Pessimism About the Future with Prof Roger Crisp

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Prof Roger Crisp provides the 3rd session for the 2023 Bitesize Ethics Programme. Many, probably most, people are optimists about the future, believing that the extinction of sentient life on earth would be, overall, bad. This talk suggests that pessimism about the future is no less reasonable than optimism. The argument rests on the possibility of ‘discontinuities’ in value, in particular the possibility that there may be some things so bad – such as agonizing torture – such that no amount of good can compensate for them. The ‘spectrum’ problem often raised in connection with alleged discontinuities will be discussed, along with the claim that moments of agonizing torture, spread out over a long period, can be compensated by great goods. Some difficulties with articulating the badness of agonizing torture will be explained. The talk will end with a discussion of the ethical implications of pessimism, concluding that, as far as sentient life on earth is concerned, pessimists may agree with optimists that it should be protected, but for quite different reasons.
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