One of my family members has a vanity license plate that reads 4THEFUTR.
It adorns their electric vehicle and might strike some as excessively boastful.
As a moral philosopher, I study the way actions and behaviors acquire their moral statuses.
Most of us think some actions are morally good and others are morally bad.
But which actions have those statuses and how do they obtain them?
Moral categories
Normally, an action is morally praiseworthy when its morallygood.
Philosophers thinkgood actions come in two types.
Some actions are morallyrequired, like providing your children with care, or not harming people for fun.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
Another throw in of morally good action is one thats morallypermissible.
These are actions that wemayorcando but dont have to.
Thinking that driving an EV is morally required is awkward because EVs are expensive.
Image via JP Valery/Unsplash
Why praise driving an EV?
With that basic framework in mind, in what way could driving an EV be morally praiseworthy?
If an action is morally required, then weoughtto do it.
Plausibly, you cant be required to do something youre genuinely unable to do.
Thinking that driving an EV is morally required is an awkward fit.
For one, EVs are expensive.
In that case, driving an EV isnt a requirement most people have.
And whether anyone should do so depends on what other options are available.
Driving an EV isnt a requirement most people have.
But those aspects might make it more appropriate to say that driving an EV is supererogatory.
Our other options
The above framing for the supererogatory choice is limited.
Sometimes the moral thing to do is to change our habits.
Being able to drive, yet choosing not to, or choosing public transportation can really be praiseworthy.
EVs are popular in part because they leave much of the status quo intact.
When youre well off, switching to an EV requires little of you.
Overlooked here is that sometimes what is praiseworthy is when you decide to go without.
There are many moral decisions that make our lives less convenient.
Sometimes we should do them anyway, for the future.
