"A dissenter might argue ... that the concept of obligations to the future makes no sense at all. The future does not exist. How can we have a responsibility to nothing at all? Or even if future beings can be imagined to exist, how can we know what their interests are, or what they might ask of us? How can there be obligations to abstractions?
"... people show strong loyalty to abstractions every time they act in ways that honor conceptual ideals such as freedom, liberty, and prosperity. Loyalty to abstractions is the stuff of this world. Arguments about responsibility to the future do indeed require us to imagine a world that does not yet exist. They further require us to be morally moved by that imagined vision. Loyalty to what we can only imagine is what hope is made of."
From the glaciers of Alaska to the coral reefs of St. Thomas, Anthony F. Chiffolo has been photographing nature in its myriad forms for more than twenty years. His photos of flowers, wildlife, and landscapes have appeared on the covers and in the pages of books such as "Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior," "Shrines of the Holy Land," "Marian Shrines of the United States," "Sadhana," and "Affirmations from the Heart of God." His photography has also been published in pamphlets, brochures, catalogs, and magazines such as "Bugle," "Turkey Call," and "Liguorian." He has exhibited and sold his photos at the prestigious Waterfowl Festival in Easton Maryland; the Fire Island Pines Art Project Biennial Art Show in the Pines, Fire Island; the Hudson River Wildlife Festival in Kingston, New York; and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s “In Celebration of the Bay" in Annapolis, Maryland.
Anthony is also a published author. His books include "Cooking with the Bible: Biblical Foods, Feasts, and Lore" and, forthcoming, "Cooking with the Movies." Please visit his websites and blogs www.anthonychiffolo.com, www.cookingwiththebible.com, and www.cookingwiththemovies.blogspot.com .
"A dissenter might argue ... that the concept of obligations to the future makes no sense at all. The future does not exist. How can we have a responsibility to nothing at all? Or even if future beings can be imagined to exist, how can we know what their interests are, or what they might ask of us? How can there be obligations to abstractions?
"... people show strong loyalty to abstractions every time they act in ways that honor conceptual ideals such as freedom, liberty, and prosperity. Loyalty to abstractions is the stuff of this world. Arguments about responsibility to the future do indeed require us to imagine a world that does not yet exist. They further require us to be morally moved by that imagined vision. Loyalty to what we can only imagine is what hope is made of."
