By Mark-Alec Mellor
What I’ll be exploring here is the possibility of making a case in defence of humankind, and how (in what terms) that case could be presented. I won’t address the question of whether humankind, as a species, does more harm than good. To try to assess ourselves by drawing up a list of all the good we do and a list of all the harm, and then entering these incommensurables—weighing wars against paintings, pollution of the seas against cancer research, child exploitation against symphonies—into a moral ledger in the expectation they’ll yield a surplus on one side or another is futile. How many children’s tears equal a healthy ocean?
