The Environment, Future Generations, and John Rawls

Abstract

I would like to note that my thesis's main point is not to present an entirely new and complete argument as to why we should preserve the environment, and more importantly, I do not argue that the only reason we should preserve the environment is for the good of humanity. Personally, I do believe that we should preserve the environment for a number of reasons, such as the intrinsic value of nature. However, this is not the focus of the paper. I focus on one particular theory of justice, that of John Rawls in A Theory of Justice, and argue that it must incorporate the environment to achieve justice between generations. Rawls, for example, does not address the intrinsic value of nature and thus neither does this paper. The main point of the thesis is to argue that justice requires preservation of the environment. Future generations need the environment and it is unjust for those preceding generations to deplete it. As Rawls argues, humans have an obligation to ensure the well-being of future generations. This thesis is an exploration into Rawls' s theory of intergenerational justice and whether this method is applicable to the environment and whether it does, indeed, satisfies the well-being of future generations. [From Introduction]