About

Stephen Gardiner is a Professor of Philosophy and the Ben Rabinowitz Endowed Professor of Human Dimensions of the Environment at the University of Washington. He also serves as the Director of the Program on Ethics. His research focuses on the intersection of ethics, philosophy of science, and environmental issues, particularly concerning human dimensions of the environment and ethical considerations related to climate change and sustainability.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Social Science
• Law
• Philosophy
• Environmental ethics
• Law and economics
• Computer Science
• Economics
• Positive economics
• Epistemology
• Political economy
• Engineering
• Biology
• Mathematics
• Ecology
• Engineering ethics

Selected publications

• Beware the Toll Dodgers: defending the Tollgate Principles for governing solar geoengineering

  Climatic Change · 2026-01-19

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The Tollgate Principles (‘TGPs’) aim to represent ‘the price that must be paid’ by anyone claiming to be ethically serious about pursuing solar geoengineering (Gardiner and Fragnière, Ethic Policy Environ 221(2):143–174, 2018). The TGPs are influential but, like other governance principles, have also provoked criticism. This paper clarifies the Tollgate approach by responding to objections and dissolving some perceived tensions. It argues that, while not the final word, the TGPs are an important step in the evolution of geoengineering governance and should continue to be taken seriously at all levels. It concludes that rather than “beware the Toll Keepers” (Briggle, Ethic Policy Environ 21(2):187–189, 2018) we should instead “beware the Toll Dodgers”: those who would brush aside the TGPs and other ethics-centered approaches. As well as defending the Tollgate approach specifically, the discussion provides broader lessons for governing geoengineering and other controversial technological interventions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• On blinding future generations: a neglected site of environmental injustice

  Journal of Global Ethics · 2026-01-02 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The Early Ethics of Planetary Health

  2025-01-01

  other1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Intergenerational Turn in Ethics

  Oxford University Press eBooks · 2025-07-22 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Ethics may currently be in the early stages of an “intergenerational turn.” To speak of a philosophical “turn” is to highlight a period when mainstream thought shifts in a new direction, and especially one that is potentially transformative in terms of the questions being asked, the issues taken to be most salient, and the future trajectory of the subject. One notable feature of the early phases of the intergenerational turn is a strong tendency to regard intergenerational thinking as requiring only the simple application of conventional theories coming from ethics for contemporaries, or perhaps modest extensions of such theories. By contrast, this chapter argues that the intergenerational turn may be genuinely transformative, in that it may call for a substantial reorientation of ethical thinking, or even a radical revolution. To illustrate the potential for transformation, the chapter identifies 10 touchstones for intergenerational ethics. It then argues that one—the touchstone against “clawing back”—is at risk of being overwhelmed by two central values in the ethics of contemporaries. Specifically, the ethics of contemporaries risks turning concern for well-being and moral equality into “jealous virtues” that overstep their legitimate bounds, and thereby risk facilitating intergenerational tyranny. Given this threat, an important role for intergenerational ethics is to regulate these central values and illuminate why, how, and where they should hold sway and when they should be resisted. This provides some evidence for the potential of the intergenerational turn to become genuinely transformative, as intergenerational ethics emerges as a necessary corrective against overzealous pursuits of the central values of conventional ethics for contemporaries.

  PublisherDOI

• Next Steps for Climate-Conscious Clinical Medical Ethics?

  The American Journal of Bioethics · 2025-07-03

  letter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• METI, Precaution, and Intergenerational Ethics

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2025-12-23

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Attempts to message extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) are controversial. Key fault-lines in the debate often revolve around disagreement about scenarios. Yet some worry that the whole debate is based on speculation, and therefore irresolvable. In this paper, I argue that a more sophisticated account of precautionary thinking (SPT) can help. First, SPT does not succumb to common fears about irrationality or paralysis. Second, SPT should not be understood in a narrow way, but through a criterial approach. Third, a specific version of the criterial approach is not only applicable to METI, but also shows how SPT is helpful as a framework for understanding disputes. Fourth, in doing so, SPT amplifies the point that METI decisions are ultimately to be understood within the framework of intergenerational ethics, and so should be shaped by intergenerational norms.

  PublisherDOI

• Defending Future Generations Against the Radical Egalitarian Impulse and Lemon Egalitarianism

  Res Publica · 2025-10-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• METI, Precaution, and Intergenerational Ethics

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2025-12-23

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Attempts to message extraterrestrial intelligence (METI) are controversial. Key fault-lines in the debate often revolve around disagreement about scenarios. Yet some worry that the whole debate is based on speculation, and therefore irresolvable. In this paper, I argue that a more sophisticated account of precautionary thinking (SPT) can help. First, SPT does not succumb to common fears about irrationality or paralysis. Second, SPT should not be understood in a narrow way, but through a criterial approach. Third, a specific version of the criterial approach is not only applicable to METI, but also shows how SPT is helpful as a framework for understanding disputes. Fourth, in doing so, SPT amplifies the point that METI decisions are ultimately to be understood within the framework of intergenerational ethics, and so should be shaped by intergenerational norms.

  PublisherDOI

• Frontmatter

  Moral Philosophy and Politics · 2024-04-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Intercultural Philosophy and Environmental Justice between Generations

  Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2024-03-14 · 5 citations

  book

  This anthology combines an intercultural approach with intergenerational ethics to address critical environmental challenges. Written by scholars from all over the world, including Canada, the US, New Zealand, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Japan, the UK, China, and Spain, this book offers new perspectives on how to foster sustainable societal practises that draw on the past and are fair to future generations. It introduces the Māori idea that views all things and human generations in layered relations; Indigenous accounts of spiralling time and reciprocities among ancestors and descendants; the philosophical dimensions of Chinese conceptions of ancestor spirits and future ghosts; and African accounts of anamnestic solidarity among generations. These ideas influence proposals for how to confront ending worlds and address the environmental future of humanity, making this book a valuable resource for scholars and students of environmental law and policy, environmental humanities, political science, and intercultural and comparative philosophy, as well as policymakers.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Standard Grant: Geoengineering, Political Legitimacy and Justice

  NSF · $100k · 2016–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Simon Caney

  Walter de Gruyter (Germany)

  137 shared

• David W. Miller

  135 shared

• Elizabeth Anderson

  Baidu (China)

  135 shared

• Wilfried Hinsch

  University of Graz

  135 shared

• Thomas Pogge

  135 shared

• John Tasioulas

  University of Oxford

  135 shared

• Paula Casal

  Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy

  135 shared

• Adam Swift

  Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Philosophy

  135 shared

Labs

• Stephen Gardiner LabPI

Awards & honors

• Alan Saunders Lecture in Public Ethics at the Australasian A…
• Academy Lecture for Humanities and Social Sciences at the No…
• National Science Foundation Grant (2016)