tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post8363253995500124300..comments2023-10-14T09:40:06.690-05:00Comments on Jean Kazez: More Procreative EthicsJean Kazezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-41214818674946210172010-03-08T16:48:12.157-06:002010-03-08T16:48:12.157-06:00Total utilitarians wouldn't think making a bab...Total utilitarians wouldn't think making a baby always trumped other goods. That's what (A) and (B) both point out. The view is that we ought to have a child when adding a kid to the world adds more to total happiness than anything else we can do. In many situations, that will not be case.Jean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-83200671236317095322010-03-08T16:24:35.976-06:002010-03-08T16:24:35.976-06:00Even if one recognizes that bringing a child into ...Even if one recognizes that bringing a child into the world is always a good (which I don't), why would that good necessarily trump other goods that a child-less person would have time and energy, not being engaged in child-raising, to commit herself to (basically, your point B)? Isn't the whole argument a veiled anti-feminist position, one that insists that woman's place is s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-44418436401388356542010-03-08T15:46:48.820-06:002010-03-08T15:46:48.820-06:00My point is not that it's attractive to recogn...My point is not that it's attractive to recognize any duty to procreate, but maybe we have to -- to avoid saying things that make even less sense. Plus, I'm saying maybe we can mitigate the strangeness by recognizing points like (A) - (C).Jean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-34068433144240194992010-03-08T14:49:33.345-06:002010-03-08T14:49:33.345-06:00Faust: I'm not at all sure that the idea th...Faust: I'm not at all sure that the idea that children are good to have is not controversial. My impression is that most people have children, without much thought, because everyone else has children, that is, out of a desire to conform, to be normal, but I know a goodly number of heterosexuals, both male and female, of my generation, who decided after thinking about it not to s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-2920175902366836252010-03-08T10:43:01.437-06:002010-03-08T10:43:01.437-06:00Imagine the following:
Someone gets up in front o...Imagine the following:<br /><br />Someone gets up in front of a group of people and shouts: "Children are good to have!"<br /><br />I tihnk this would be uncontroversial. <br /><br />Imagine instead they shout: "You are all obligated to have children!"<br /><br />I'm pretty sure that wouldn't sit will with people. <br /><br />The notion of being obligated to create...Faustnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-13836966211800197542010-03-08T05:51:50.638-06:002010-03-08T05:51:50.638-06:00A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. In ...A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. In Spanish, it's a bird in the hand is worth one hundred in flight. That is, an actually existing being is worth many possible beings, since what will occur with possible beings is highly uncertain. The idea of future happiness involves extrapolating from the curve.s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-78666839176989139172010-03-07T18:41:42.767-06:002010-03-07T18:41:42.767-06:00Yes, that's puzzling. I'm thinking about ...Yes, that's puzzling. I'm thinking about it!Jean Kazezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00592593002719828153noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310450667755637519.post-38776945862308885172010-03-07T15:49:15.215-06:002010-03-07T15:49:15.215-06:00Wouldn't it be more sensible to work to increa...Wouldn't it be more sensible to work to increase the well-being (happiness doesn't seem like a goal to me) of already existing people and animals? First of all, you never know what will happen in the future: there are earthquakes, children are born deformed or with mental illnesses, even in the best families or die young from horrid diseases. Women die in pregnancy or suffer s. wallersteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17448905469871566228noreply@blogger.com