A New Intergenerational Contract
With a preface written by Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, this report sets out the philosophical underpinnings of intergenerational justice concerns. Certainly the philosophy is there – intergenerational justice and themes that relate to it have been analysed and discussed by some of the greatest minds of political philosophy – but a large gap exists between the philosophy and current rhetoric. This paper fills that gap by explaining the philosophical basis of a concern for intergenerational justice, developing a thesis around precisely what intergenerational justice requires – what an intergenerational contract should look like – and describing how this philosophy can by applied to contemporary questions about intergenerational fairness. This paper should be of interest to both the philosopher and policy-maker.