Derek Parfit: Quotes about people

Derek Parfit was British philosopher. Explore interesting quotes on people.
Derek Parfit: 48   quotes 1   like

“What now matters most is that we rich people give up some of our luxuries, ceasing to overheat the Earth's atmosphere, and taking care of this planet in other ways, so that it continues to support intelligent life.”

Derek Parfit

Source: On What Matters: Volume One (2011), p. 419

Life , People , Way , Intelligence

“It has been widely believed that there are such deep disagreements between Kantians, Contractualists, and Consequentialists. That, I have argued, is not true. These people are climbing the same mountain on different sides.”

Derek Parfit

Source: On What Matters: Volume One (2011), p. 419

People , Mountain

“Until this century, most of mankind lived in small communities. What each did could affect only a few others. But conditions have now changed. Each of us can now, in countless ways, affect countless other people. We can have real though small effects on thousands or millions of people. When these effects are widely dispersed, they may be either trivial, or imperceptible. It now makes a great difference whether we continue to believe that we cannot have greatly harmed r benefited others unless there are people with obvious grounds for resentment or gratitude.”

Derek Parfit book Reasons and Persons

Source: Reasons and Persons (1984), p. 86

Gratitude , People , Communication , Way

“Even if moral truths cannot affect people, they can still be truths.”

Derek Parfit book Reasons and Persons

Source: Derek Parfit, ‘Reasons and Motivation’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, supp. vol. 71 (1997), p. 111

Truth , People

“When some principle requires us to act in some way, this principle’s acceptability cannot depend on whether such acts are often possible. We cannot defend some principle by claiming that, in the world as it is, there is no danger that too many people will act in the way that this principle requires.”

Derek Parfit book Reasons and Persons

Source: Reasons and Persons (1984), p. 387

World , Way , People , Dependency

“I sometimes want to kick my car[.] Since I have this anger at material objects, which is manifestly irrational, it’s easier to me to think, when I get angry with people, that this is also irrational.”

Derek Parfit book Reasons and Persons

Source: Derek Parfit, ‘An Interview with Derek Parfit’, Cogito, Vol. 9, No. 2 (August, 1995), p. 118

Cars , Thinking , Anger , People