Better to Be

South African Journal of Philosophy 31 (1):10-25 (2012)
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Abstract

Suppose a couple knows that if they conceive a child, the child’s life on the whole will contain a million units of pleasure and a hundred units of pain. Call this the Lucky Couple. If the Lucky Couple decides to conceive, will their act of conceiving harm the resulting child? Most people would say no. To harm a person is to make things worse for that person than they would otherwise be. If the Lucky Couple conceives a child, the child will experience a great balance of pleasure over pain. If the Lucky Couple does not conceive a child, the child will not exist at all, and thus will not experi enceany pleasure or any pain. It is not worse to experience a great balance of pleasure over pain than not to experience any pleasure or any pain. And so, most people will conclude, if the Lucky Couple decides to conceive, their act of conceiving will not harm the resulting child

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David Boonin
University of Colorado, Boulder

Citations of this work

The Hypothetical Consent Objection to Anti-Natalism.Asheel Singh - 2018 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 21 (5):1135-1150.
If You Must Give Them a Gift, Then Give Them the Gift of Nonexistence.Matti Häyry - 2024 - Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 33 (1):48-59.

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