The utilitarian goal of promoting everyone’s interests is complicated by the Parfitian view that one’s self-interest across time is a matter of degree (based on psychological connectedness) rather than all-or-nothing identity. This essay introduces and explores the Time-Relative Account of Interests, which uniquely captures key intuitions about the relative misfortune of death at different stages of life.

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Outline:

(00:13) Introduction: Utilitarianism and Interests

(03:43) Egoistic Concern

(11:49) The Misfortune of Death

(17:44) The Divergent Lives Problem

(27:59) The No-Difference View

(36:21) Interests and Reasons

(39:44) An Asymmetry Between Benefits and Harms

(41:40) About the Author

(42:09) Want to learn more about utilitarianism?

(42:13) Guest Essays

The original text contained 9 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.