Theo Todman's Web Page - Paper Abstracts

Author’s Abstract

1. I examine an argument that appears to take us from Parfit’s₁ (1984) thesis that we have no reason to fulfil desires we no longer care about to the conclusion that the effect of posthumous events on our desires is a matter of indifference (the post-mortem thesis).
2. I suspect that many of Parfit’s² readers, including "Vorobej (Mark) - Past Desires" (1998), think that he is committed to (something like) this reasoning, and that Parfit³ must therefore give up the post-mortem thesis.
3. However, as it turns out, the argument is subtly equivocal and does not commit Parfit⁴ to the post-mortem thesis.
4. I close with some doubts about Parfit’s⁵ case for his indifference thesis.