Introductions
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| Alien Astrobiologist |
- asks questions about value, good and bad, rights, and justice...
- that arise because of the distinctive temporal features of the human lifespan
What are the distinctive temporal features of the human lifespan?
- we are born and we die
- but at different times...so human society is mixed age
- over time we pass through ages and stages: childhood, midlife, old age
- our lives typically last around 75-100 years, not 1000 years
Lifespan ethics questions .
- Modules 2-4: Are the stages of life normative stages? Is wellbeing defined differently for each stage? Are there special "goods of childhood"..."goods of midlife"..."goods of old age"? Should we think of midlife as the "prime of life"? Is childhood preparation for midlife? Is old age decline?
- Module 1: Tools: theories of wellbeing, concept of a "life stage"
- Module 5: Age-based inequalities...when just, when unjust?
- Module 6: Should we seek a cure for old age, so 90 year olds are like 19 year olds, and people can live to 1000?
Readings. Mostly philosophy, but also other fields.
- Major figures in history of philosophy
- Contemporary philosophers (most of our authors)
- Psychologists, physicians
- Historians
- Legal scholars
- Journalists
