-
No More Lifeboats: Introduction
- Dissent
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Volume 66, Number 3, Summer 2019
- pp. 17-19
- 10.1353/dss.2019.0058
- Article
- Additional Information
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ABSTRACT:
In 1974, the science philosopher Garrett Hardin, best known for his idea of the "tragedy of the commons," published a lesser-known piece in Psychology Today called "Lifeboat Ethics." The metaphor of Spaceship Earth was at the height of its popularity. But, Hardin observed, this ship had no captain, and the United Nations was a "toothless tiger." Much better, he thought, to see the world for what it was: a vast ocean where the wealthy sat in a few lifeboats while the poor bobbed in the water alongside, pleading for berth.