What are specific examples of retrospectivism/retrospectivist causes that you have in mind? Are there things in this category that differ from global health and poverty causes? When you say reparations, what do you mean in particular? When would or wouldn’t reducing a global catastrophic risk such as pandemics count as helping one’s ancestors via the repair of their descendants?
Relatively low hanging fruit might include respecting their graves, monuments, statues, and temples and other holy places. A lot of people in the past believed in a relatively small number of religions/ideologies, they cared a lot about them, and their stone relics take up a very small amount of space and require little maintenance.
Negative. What I am alluding to is the material reparation of generational harm done to the living….utilitarian action ALWAYS benefits a majority and harms a minority. This is why Rawls was keen on using The Veil of ignorance…. To no avail!
I am afraid that there are currently very few, if any, retrospectives “causes” to list… Reparations for Slavery is one example. But, in general, because of the “common good” cloak worn by utilitarian actions, the harmed are effectively buried …. The materialized risk is acceptable because the whole utilitarian endeavor was undertaken for “majority benefit” and the “common good”.
What are specific examples of retrospectivism/retrospectivist causes that you have in mind? Are there things in this category that differ from global health and poverty causes? When you say reparations, what do you mean in particular? When would or wouldn’t reducing a global catastrophic risk such as pandemics count as helping one’s ancestors via the repair of their descendants?
Relatively low hanging fruit might include respecting their graves, monuments, statues, and temples and other holy places. A lot of people in the past believed in a relatively small number of religions/ideologies, they cared a lot about them, and their stone relics take up a very small amount of space and require little maintenance.
Ancestor worship also came to mind a la What We Owe The Past, but I wasn’t sure if OP had something different in mind than that post.
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ndvguMbcdAMXzTHJG/what-we-owe-the-past
Negative. What I am alluding to is the material reparation of generational harm done to the living….utilitarian action ALWAYS benefits a majority and harms a minority. This is why Rawls was keen on using The Veil of ignorance…. To no avail!
I am afraid that there are currently very few, if any, retrospectives “causes” to list… Reparations for Slavery is one example. But, in general, because of the “common good” cloak worn by utilitarian actions, the harmed are effectively buried …. The materialized risk is acceptable because the whole utilitarian endeavor was undertaken for “majority benefit” and the “common good”.