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Sustainable action and moral corruption

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The concept of moral corruption has been pointed at as the root cause of our failure to make progress with acting towards a sustainable future. This paper defines moral corruption as the agent’s strategy not to form the intentions needed to overcome the motivational obstacles of sustainable action. Moral corruption is considered similar to Kant’s radical evil; it causes our practical identities to be divided. The question then arises: how could we possibly strive for moral integrity, while simultaneously being infected with the ‘disease’ of moral corruption? It is argued that we have an indirect motive for sustainable action in wanting to prevent our practical identity from falling apart.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Politics of Sustainability
Subtitle of host publicationPhilosophical perspectives
EditorsDieter Birnbacher, May Thorseth
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge, Taylor and Francis group
Chapter7
Pages109-126
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-315-72120-0
ISBN (Print)978-1-138-85430-7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1-Aug-2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Sustainability
  • Philosophy
  • Political aspects
  • Climate change mitigation

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