On the social and personal value of existence

Fleurbaey, Marc and Voorhoeve, Alex (2015) On the social and personal value of existence. In: Hirose , Iwao and Reisner, Andrew , (eds.) Weighing and Reasoning: Themes from the Philosophy of John Broome. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 95-109. ISBN 9780199684908

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Abstract

If a potential person would have a good life if he were to come into existence, can we coherently regard his coming into existence as better for him than his never coming into existence? And can we regard the situation in which he never comes into existence as worse for him? In this paper, we argue that both questions should be answered affirmatively. We also explain where prominent arguments to differing conclusions go wrong. Finally, we explore the relevance of our answers to issues in population ethics.

Item Type:	Book Section
Official URL:	http://www.oup.com/uk/
Additional Information:	© 2015 The Several Contributors
Library of Congress subject classification:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Sets:	Departments > Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Date Deposited:	02 Dec 2014 09:36
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/60368/

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