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Related Experiment Videos

Value, obligation and the asymmetry question.

Michael Tooley

    Bioethics
    |October 20, 2001
    PubMed
    Summary
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    There is no moral obligation to create new people, even if they would live good lives. This challenges the idea that we should maximize happiness for potential future individuals.

    Area of Science:

    • Moral Philosophy
    • Ethics
    • Population Ethics

    Background:

    • Stuart Rachels argues for a moral obligation to create individuals with lives worth living.
    • Rachels posits that the quality of life for potential persons should be weighed equally with existing persons.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To critically evaluate Rachels' argument regarding the obligation to create new individuals.
    • To challenge the assumption linking propositions about good-making properties to right-making ones.

    Main Methods:

    • Philosophical argumentation and critical analysis.
    • Examination of the relationship between value properties and moral obligations.
    • Development of an alternative ethical asymmetry.

    Main Results:

    Keywords:
    Analytical ApproachGenetics and ReproductionPhilosophical Approach

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    • Rachels' view faces significant objections and relies on an unsustainable assumption.
    • The arguments linking good-making and right-making properties are flawed.
    • An asymmetry exists: a duty not to create lives not worth living, but no duty to create lives worth living.

    Conclusions:

    • There is a moral asymmetry regarding the creation of new individuals.
    • We have a prima facie obligation to avoid bringing individuals with non-worthwhile lives into existence.
    • There is no corresponding prima facie obligation to create individuals whose lives would be worth living.