Presented by Travis Rieder, associate research professor, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University. Abstrat: Modern life is morally exhausting and confusing. Everything we do seems to matter. But simultaneously: nothing we do seems to matter. The problems are too big for a person’s individual contribution to make a difference. How do we live a morally decent life when we can’t even get our arms around the problems? While traditional ethics may harbor ambitions for telling us precisely what we are morally required to do, catastrophe ethics aims to answer a slightly different question: what sort of life can you justify in the face of today’s threats? With particular attention to climate change and environmental health, Rieder will elaborate his account of catastrophe ethics, suggesting how to resist the seductive pulls of both purity and nihilism. He will demonstrate how in a world where nearly everything we do implicates us in various systems and structures, there are a lot of opportunities to engage in moral work that is constant and creative, and that matters. 

Sponsored by the Center for Bioethics and the School of Public Health