No Longer as Free as the Wind: Human Reproduction and Parenting Enter the Scope of Morality; Review Essay

Camus considered the most crucial philosophical problem to be that of suicide—whether to discontinue your existence by endingit. Alternatively, a most crucial philosophical problem may be procreation—whether to continue human existence by making new humans. The topic has spurred an increasing amount of debate over the past decade, with marked diversion with Anscomb’s comment that it makes no moral sense to inquire whether one should reproduce. One might as well ask why digest food or why should the wind blow. This article reviews some of the most recent literature on this topic, which shows little resemblance to Anscomb’s remark.