Many of us in the modern world find ourselves implicated in massive, structural harms and injustices. We emit greenhouse gases, which-along with everyone else's emissions-are warming the planet. We buy products that result from bad labor practices. And many of us feel (appropriately, I think) some amount of guilt for our participation, but also find it difficult or impossible to fully extract ourselves from the problematic systems. I call this challenge of determining individual moral responsibility in the face of massive, structural problems "catastrophe ethics." In this Perspective commentary, I suggest that the ubiquity of catastrophe ethics cases in the modern world justifies adopting a position of moral humility, as we recognize that none of us is morally pure but, rather, we are each choosing our own version of impurity.
Keywords: catastrophe ethics; climate change; ethical choices; humility; moral purity; responsibility.
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