Ethical Analysis of Purported Risks and Disasters Involving Suffering, Extinction, or a Lack of Positive Value
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55613/jeet.v35i2.163Keywords:
risk of astronomical future suffering, s-risk, existential risk, x-risk, extinction, ethics of risk, ethical risk analysis, pure benefits, suffering-focused ethicsAbstract
I carry out an ethical analysis of how we should deal with the following purported risks and disasters: suffering on an astronomical scale, personal disasters, extinction, and the possibility that positive value will not be created. I consider them in relation to one another in part because measures to reduce one risk may increase another risk, and because there are opportunity costs and tradeoffs. I build largely on ideas from the ethics of risk. For example, it seems that risk imposition is especially morally problematic when an unconsenting individual is subjected to the risk of extreme ill-being for someone else’s pure benefit. My findings include that there are ways to reduce personal disasters, such as illnesses, that create little risk. Measures to prevent extinction and ensure that positive value is created should generally be limited to measures that also reduce (or at least do not increase) the risk of large-scale severe ill-being. Examples of measures on the table include forms of moral improvement and helping victims of war in ways that prevent conflicts.
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