Abstract
This chapter is a reprint of what has become the germinal article on limitarianism. After laying out the distinction between intrinsic and instrumental limitarianism, the first part develops two arguments for limitarianism – the democratic argument, and the unmet basic needs argument. The second part develops a theoretical account of ‘the power of material resources’, which is the metric on which we should put the riches line. Next, the distinction between limitarianism as a moral and a political doctrine is discussed. The chapter closes by responding to two objections to limitarianism.
Funder
European Research Council
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