Intergenerational Cooperation

I find myself doing a number of puzzling things: I observe a two-minute silence for those who died in a war fought before I was born, and so are in no position to approve of my respect for them. I feel guilty about oppression that was carried out in the name of my country by people who lived centuries ago, even though I was not around to be causally responsible. I separate paper and plastic recycling for the benefit of people whom, it seems, don’t exist and won’t be born until long after I die. In this paper I will offer a way of making sense of all of these practices, in the context of intergenerational cooperation. I will do so only assuming my own self-interest.