Petrified Intelligence: Nature in Hegel's Philosophy

be so damaged) irrespective of relative welfare considerations. This amounts to a deontological rather than a utilitarian approach. Second, there is the issue of whether ceasing to inflict damage on someone is the same as providing them with benefits. Economists often argue that it would be better to increase development aid to poor people in the current generation than mitigate climate change to benefit future generations, as if the two actions are both commensurable and morally equivalent. But in most systems of justice ceasing to inflict harm (which may be legally required) is not at all the same thing as failing to do good. Through a detailed exploration of such issues Spash shows that the human response to climate change goes well beyond, and cannot be appropriately confined to, economic discourse. As Spash notes, in respect of such issues: 'Deliberation is required as to what is right and just if humans are to maintain any status as ethical beings' (p. 245). Such a conclusion may resonate, but it does not make life any easier for policy makers, faced with a determination of current generations to pursue climatechanging lifestyles, and the final chapter of Spash's book alternates uneasily between a recognition of moral imperative and the more pragmatic response of the IPCC and others, which is rooted in a recognition of the day-to-day power of utilitarian considerations. Undoubtedly the debate between these two will continue. The value of the book is that it provides a solid foundation from which the moral arguments may be articulated.