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Endangering humanity: an international crime?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Catriona McKinnon Open the ORCID record for Catriona McKinnon [Opens in a new window]
Catriona McKinnon*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Reading, Reading, UK
*
Emails: c.mckinnon@rdg.ac.uk
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Abstract

In the Anthropocene, human beings are capable of bringing about globally catastrophic outcomes that could damage conditions for present and future human life on Earth in unprecedented ways. This paper argues that the scale and severity of these dangers justifies a new international criminal offence of ‘postericide’ that would protect present and future people against wrongfully created dangers of near extinction. Postericide is committed by intentional or reckless systematic conduct that is fit to bring about near human extinction. The paper argues that a proper understanding of the moral imperatives embodied in international criminal law shows that it ought to be expanded to incorporate a new law of postericide.

Keywords

Anthropoceneinternational criminal lawhuman extinctionhuman securityglobal catastropheintergenerational ethics
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Philosophy , Volume 47 , Issue 2-3: Special issue: Ethics and Future Generations , 2017 , pp. 395 - 415
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Journal of Philosophy 2017

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