17.S918 Distributive Justice Across Time and Generations

Spring 2024, Teaching Assistant

Undergraduate

When we consider how to allocate resources fairly, we think about how to distribute resources across the different segments of society that exist right now.  Often, we talk about how much inequality we should tolerate and how resources should be distributed across rich and poor, rural and urban, high-income countries and the global South. This class focuses on the less studied question of when and how we distribute resources fairly across time and different generations. Specifically, we will discuss the following key questions: What do we owe to people in the future?  Should we care about people in the future?  When have humans cared about future generations?  What kinds of policies and practices can make current people care more about future people? To explore these questions, we will review work from the social and behavioral sciences, as well as from history, art, and philosophy.  We will look at academic research, policy reports, cases, insights, and texts from different times, places, and cultures.