Derek Parfit Quotes on Time
Derek Parfit was a British philosopher widely regarded as one of the most important moral philosophers of the late twentieth century. This page collects quotes attributed to Derek Parfit on the topic of time, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Derek Parfit:
“What is bad about my death is not that something happens to me, but that nothing more does.”
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“the part of our moral theory... that covers how we affect future generations... is the most important part of our moral theory, since the next few centuries will be the most important in human history.”
p. 351 -
“To be a person, a being must be self-conscious, aware of its identity and its continued existence over time.”
p. 202 -
“When I consider the parts of the past of which I have some knowledge, I am inclined to believe that, in Utilitarian hedonistic terms, the past has been worth it, since the sum of happiness has been greater than the sum of suffering.”
On What Matters: Volume Two (2011) | p. 612