Morality and Diachronic Choice

ABSTRACT The guiding aim of this piece is to illuminate the topic of morality and diachronic choice by revealing its connections to two closely related topics that have received significantly more attention in philosophy, namely that of morality and collective action problems and that of rationality and diachronic choice . A further, related aim is to chime in on a key point of contention relevant to debates on morality and diachronic choice that centers around the marginalized but, in my view, compelling idea that appropriate diachronic choice can involve passing up a preferable option. Ultimately, I will suggest that, although the idea is initially counterintuitive, it is philosophically powerful and very much worthy of continued investigation. Relatedly, I will consider the possibility of preferability cycles —which can, if they exist, make sense of passing up a preferable option—and suggest that there remain reasons for pause in relation to the widespread rejection of such cycles.