Choices, Harm, and Reconciliation: Making Sense of Irreversibility in Contexts of Practical Philosophy

The paper examines the meaning of irreversibility in the context of moral philosophy. It argues that acts or events appear (ir-)reversible only under specific descriptions (while there is room for reasonable argument about which descriptions are adequate). It compares irreversibility-claims about natural and about moral harm and discusses the significance and theory dependence of irreversibility claims in various contexts of practical reasoning.