Yuqi Liang (Corpus Christi College, Oxford University): 'Causally Discounting the Future.'
Abstract: Does the far future matter less than the near future to what one ought to do now? In this essay, I shall advance a new way of causally discounting the future that avoids some problems with existing answers to the question. Part I argues that in general, our actions make a smaller causal contribution to outcomes in the far future than to those in the near future. Part II proposes that the strength of our reason for action is in proportion to the action’s degree of causal contribution to its outcomes. Thus, in general, the strength of our reason for action diminishes with time, other things being equal. I explore the normative implications of causal discounting in Part III, where I shall also expose a problem with my proposal, though I invite you to weigh it against the proposal’s virtues.
