RE: Is Human Reproduction Un-Ethical?
April 1, 2015 at 7:54 pm
(This post was last modified: April 1, 2015 at 8:01 pm by bennyboy.)
Without the ability to foresee the future, then ethics must rely on probability. Will my children PROBABLY have a net positive value in their lives?
-If people saw only negative value in their lives, they would commit suicide
-Most people do not commit suicide
-Therefore most people see positive value in their lives
-Therefore my children would most likely see positive value in their lives
-Therefore preventing them from existing would have been selfish and unethical
Now, if you are bringing children into an environment where you KNOW they are likely to suffer greatly, like into conditions of extreme poverty, then that might be different. A crack baby, for example, or one with a severe genetic defect, might arguably be aborted with a view on the greater good.
Also, I'd say that your assumption is demonstrably wrong: "Causing suffering in children is unethical." Vaccines cause suffering, but are not unethical since statistically you are doing what is most likely to bring the greater good: reduced ill-time in a lifetime, and greater survivability. Taking away their handphones when they play too many games will cause suffering, but is clearly not unethical.
-If people saw only negative value in their lives, they would commit suicide
-Most people do not commit suicide
-Therefore most people see positive value in their lives
-Therefore my children would most likely see positive value in their lives
-Therefore preventing them from existing would have been selfish and unethical
Now, if you are bringing children into an environment where you KNOW they are likely to suffer greatly, like into conditions of extreme poverty, then that might be different. A crack baby, for example, or one with a severe genetic defect, might arguably be aborted with a view on the greater good.
Also, I'd say that your assumption is demonstrably wrong: "Causing suffering in children is unethical." Vaccines cause suffering, but are not unethical since statistically you are doing what is most likely to bring the greater good: reduced ill-time in a lifetime, and greater survivability. Taking away their handphones when they play too many games will cause suffering, but is clearly not unethical.
