![]() We are not human beings, Philosophy, vol. ![]() Some of our successors might live lives and create worlds that, though failing to justify past suffering, would give us all, including some of those who have suffered, reasons to be glad that the Universe exists. What interests me most are the metaphysical questions whose answers can affect our emotions, and have rational and moral significance. If we are the only rational beings in the Universe, as some recent evidence suggests, it matters even more whether we shall have descendants or successors during the billions of years in which that would be possible. In Nietzsche’s words, there has never been such a new dawn and clear horizon, and such an open sea. Since human history may be only just beginning, we can expect that future humans, or supra-humans, may achieve some great goods that we cannot now even imagine. Life can be wonderful as well as terrible, and we shall increasingly have the power to make life good. If we reduce these risks, and humanity survives the next few centuries, our descendants or successors could end these risks by spreading through this galaxy. In a new paper, We Are Not Human Beings, Derek Parfit argues that persons are identically their conscious, thinking parts, which he identifies as their cerebrums. We are creating some of these risks, and discovering how we could respond to these and other risks. “What now matters most is how we respond to various risks to the survival of humanity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |