Based on some of Häyry’s previous work, I assume he agrees. It is better, morally, to have a child whose life is better than one whose life is worse, other things being equal. However, if the couple waits a month, they will have a healthy child whose life is much better – overall – than the life of the child who would be conceived earlier.Īssuming that the child would be a different child because of different DNA and that the couple has no reason not to wait a month, it seems that they should wait a month. She will suffer pain and discomfort through her life. If they procreate now, their child will be sick. ![]() To see this, consider the following case:Ī couple wants to have a child. Be that as it may, I think we have a reason to reject the principle of actual or prospective existence or, at least, to revise it. Thus, abstaining from procreation seems to be the safe option, morally, because you cannot wrong someone who does not exist. However, I am confident that nonexistence cannot be bad, so it cannot be wrong not to have children. That is because I am not fully confident that existence is always bad. I am not sure whether it is wrong to have children. ![]() This principle is in line with Häyry’s antinatalist view: not having children is both rational and ethical.ģ Some see this sort of antinatalist conclusion as repugnant or implausible itself,Ĥ whereas others endorse similar conclusions for somewhat different reasons. Häyry adopts this rule to avoid the repugnant conclusion that we must reproduce every time we could have offspring with tolerable lives. “When the moral rightness of human activities is assessed, the imagined needs of non-existent beings who will never come into existence shall not be counted.”Ĭall this the principle of actual or prospective existence. Häyry’s liberal utilitarianism includes the following principle: Challenging the Principle of Actual and Prospective Existence
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