Labont Seminars 2021/22 - Climate Crisis and Future Generations
7 April 2022 h 3:00-5:00 pm
Sue Spaid, “Introducing the Values Approach to Climate Change”
In contrast to ideal arguments whose ‘just targets’ reflect definable/measurable metrics and/or impersonal corporate/national policies destined to mitigate climate change, this paper proposes a nonideal approach for thwarting global warming. In contrast to strategies that depend on distributive justice, the Values Approach requires us to identify identity-defining values, which commits us to act in ways that cohere with our values, lest we be deemed hypocrites. Unlike virtues, those values that we ‘make explicit’ play normative roles since values are a subset of substantial self-knowledge. We thus adjust our habits to accord with how we see ourselves. Moreover, voters who value their environments are apt to pressure democratically-elected leaders to implement appropriate policies.