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Circling the Good

In his new book the eminent philosopher Thomas Nagel asks whether humans are capable of redefining morality itself.

He does appear to have assumed that caterpillars can feel pain, which could be doubted—but if you prefer an example with greater certainty, replace the wasps with North American short-tailed shrews, who paralyze mice and then slowly eat their living but immobile prey. We can, however, question whether these rights themselves provide an independent basis for moral claims or are instead derived from—and justified by—the principle that we should do our best to reduce the suffering and maximize the happiness of everyone, human or nonhuman, affected by our actions. Here he acknowledges that what constitutes justice between sovereign states is a very old question, but he points out that new issues are raised both by our greatly increased capacity to assist foreign populations in need and by the fact that economic refugees are now seeking to migrate in large numbers.

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