This book analyzes Søren Kierkegaard’s message about the ethical necessity of silence in the context of our current information age flooded with sound and words. The author investigates the question of how being silent can make us more ethical.

The United States has rejected climate reparations requests from other nations by claiming historical ignorance of the global effects of anthropogenic climate change. This objection to climate reparations, called the epistemic objection in this paper, appeals to a concept of fairness concerning moral responsibility which can be traced back to Aristotle's distinction between voluntary and involuntary actions. However, on closer examination, the epistemic objection fails to fulfill Aristotle's criteria for excusable involuntary actions, and therefore the authors of this paper conclude (...) that claims of ignorance concerning climate change do not provide a substantial objection to climate reparation requests. (shrink)