Elliot examines the attribution of rights to future non-existent people. Elliot separates the existence of the rights from the existence of the people. The existence of the right in the present constrains our actions regarding future people, regardless of who these people are. Any cogent view of moral obligation to future generations must address Derek Parfit’s problems with future identity; Elliot here fails to mention Parfit, but he raises many of the same issues.
