Contractarian Theory, Intergenerational Justice, and Energy Policy
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Description
Contractarian theory, in the form developed by John Rawls, enormously clarifies and advances the critical discussion of distributive justice within developed industrial states. In what way, if at all, can or should this analytic framework be deployed in the analysis and explication of issues of justice outside this context, for example, justice among states or generations? This chapter addresses intergenerational justice, examining certain paradoxes that contractarian theory may introduce into the discussion of this problem. In general, I defend the coherent plausibility of contractarian theory in providing foundations for intergenerational justice, interpreted in terms of an equal opportunity criterion as proposed by Brian Barry and Talbot Page (Chapter 3); indeed, I enlist this ethical argument in the defense of an extension of constitutional rights to future generations, analogous to proposals innovating new forms of legal rights to protect natural objects or resources.
Source Publication
Energy and the Future
Source Editors/Authors
Douglas MacLean, Peter G. Brown
Publication Date
1983
Recommended Citation
Richards, David A. J., "Contractarian Theory, Intergenerational Justice, and Energy Policy" (1983). Faculty Chapters. 1925.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/1925
