Philosophical Studies 176 (8):2103-2117 (2019)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
Recently, Derek Parfit has offered a novel solution to the “Repugnant Conclusion” that compared with the existence of many people whose quality of life would be very high, there is some much larger number of people whose existence would be better but whose lives would be barely worth living. On this solution, qualitative differences between two populations will often entail that the populations are merely “imprecisely” comparable. According to Parfit, this fact allows us to avoid the Repugnant Conclusion without violating the transitivity of better than. In this paper, I argue that Parfit’s view nevertheless implies two objectionable conclusions. The first is an alternative version of the Repugnant Conclusion that, Parfit suggests, may not be all that repugnant. The second is a revised version of the first that is nearly identical to the Repugnant Conclusion. I conclude that Parfit’s view offers no escape from repugnance.
|
Keywords | imprecision lexical superiority population ethics Repugnant Conclusion |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1007/s11098-018-1117-4 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
Reasons and Persons.Joseph Margolis - 1986 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 47 (2):311-327.
View all 29 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
No citations found.
Similar books and articles
Does the Total Principle Have Any Repugnant Implications?Douglas W. Portmore - 1999 - Ratio 12 (1):80–98.
Repugnance or Intransitivity: A Repugnant But Forced Choice.Stuart Rachels - 2004 - In Jesper Ryberg Torbjorn Tannsjo (ed.), The Repugnant Conclusion: Essays on Population Ethics. Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 163--86.
Egalitarianism and Repugnant Conclusions.Thomas Søbirk Petersen - 2003 - Danish Yearbook of Philosophy 38 (1):115-125.
Population Ethics and Different‐Number‐Based Imprecision.Gustaf Arrhenius - 2016 - Theoria 82 (2):166-181.
The Very Repugnant Conclusion.Gustaf Arrhenius - 2003 - In Krister Segerberg & Ryszard Sliwinski (eds.), Logic, Law, Morality: Thirteen Essays in Practical Philosophy in Honour of Lennart Åqvist. Uppsala. pp. 29-44.
A Solution to the Purported Non-Transitivity of Normative Evaluation.Alan Carter - 2015 - Journal of Philosophy 112 (1):23-45.
Parity, Imprecise Comparability, and the Repugnant Conclusion.Ruth Chang - 2016 - Theoria 82 (2):183-215.
How to Accept the Transitivity of Better Than.Justin Klocksiem - 2016 - Philosophical Studies 173 (5):1309-1334.
Ethical Theory and Population Problems.Kevin Espen Moon - 2001 - Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Analytics
Added to PP index
2018-05-17
Total views
233 ( #47,120 of 2,498,921 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
14 ( #56,034 of 2,498,921 )
2018-05-17
Total views
233 ( #47,120 of 2,498,921 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
14 ( #56,034 of 2,498,921 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads