you can’t be morally obligated to do something that is not feasible. Could I be morally obligated to be like Peter Pan and flap my wings and fly around the room? The answer is clearly not. I can’t have a moral obligation like that because I am not capable of flapping my arms and flying around the room. If I fail to carry out a moral obligation, you must be entitled to blame me. You could properly say unkind things about me. But you couldn’t possibly say unkind things about me for not flying around the room like Peter Pan because you know, as well as I do, that I can’t do it.
That was Robert Solow. He was talking about the notion of sustainability. A few other things sprang to mind when I read that.
Very interesting!