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DO POSSIBLE PEOPLE HAVE MORAL STANDING?

DO POSSIBLE PEOPLE HAVE MORAL STANDING? Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, Vo!. 30 (1995), 96- JESPER RYBERG University of Copenhagen In his article "Survival of the Weakest'" R.M. Hare considers the following moral problem: Suppose a child is born with a serious incurable handicap, which makes the child's life less happy than a normal life, though still worth living. Suppose next that unless some operation is performed the handicapped child will die; and that, if it dies, the parents will have another not handicapped child, one they would not have had if the handicapped child had survived the operation. The question considered by Hare is, should the child be operated on? What makes Hare's problem an interesting moral problem is, that the exam­ ple is not only concerned with existing people, but involves considerations about a person who might come into existence if we act in one way rather than another. This kind of problem is perhaps best known in population ethics. Pop­ ulation policy is concerned with how populations ought to develop, and should provide programmes for how principles of development can be realized. When we ask how the development of our population should be regulated, it is usual­ ly a problem which involves changes http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Danish Yearbook of Philosophy Brill

DO POSSIBLE PEOPLE HAVE MORAL STANDING?

Ryberg, Jesper
Danish Yearbook of Philosophy , Volume 30 (1): 23 – Aug 2, 1995
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0070-2749
eISSN
2468-9300
DOI
10.1163/24689300_0300105
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, Vo!. 30 (1995), 96- JESPER RYBERG University of Copenhagen In his article "Survival of the Weakest'" R.M. Hare considers the following moral problem: Suppose a child is born with a serious incurable handicap, which makes the child's life less happy than a normal life, though still worth living. Suppose next that unless some operation is performed the handicapped child will die; and that, if it dies, the parents will have another not handicapped child, one they would not have had if the handicapped child had survived the operation. The question considered by Hare is, should the child be operated on? What makes Hare's problem an interesting moral problem is, that the exam­ ple is not only concerned with existing people, but involves considerations about a person who might come into existence if we act in one way rather than another. This kind of problem is perhaps best known in population ethics. Pop­ ulation policy is concerned with how populations ought to develop, and should provide programmes for how principles of development can be realized. When we ask how the development of our population should be regulated, it is usual­ ly a problem which involves changes

Journal

Danish Yearbook of Philosophy – Brill

Published: Aug 2, 1995

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