Why Have Children? : The Ethical Debate.

Intro -- Contents -- Series Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- Why Have Children? -- Why Choosing to Have Children Is an Ethical Issue -- The Gendered Nature of the "Why Have Children?" Issue -- Main Questions -- Looking Ahead -- 2. Reproductive Freedom, Autonomy, and Reproductive Rights -- The Right to Reproduce in the Positive or Welfare Sense -- The Right to Reproduce in the Negative or Liberty Sense -- The Right Not to Reproduce -- Conclusion -- 3. When Prospective Parents Disagree -- The Disagreements and How Some Philosophers Resolve Them -- Resolving Quadrant 2 -- Resolving Quadrant 3 -- Evaluating Solutions to the "She Wants the Baby and He Doesn't" Dilemma -- Evaluating Solutions to the "She Doesn't Want the Baby, but He Does"Dilemma -- The "Virtuous" Solution -- The Ectogenesis Solution -- Conclusion -- 4. Deontological Reasons for Having Children -- Bearing Children as Intrinsically Worthwhile -- Name, Property, Genetic Link -- Duties to Others (and the Problems of Pronatalist Pressures) -- Keeping a Promise -- Religious Duties -- Duties to the State -- A General Comment on Deontological Arguments -- 5. Consequentialist Reasons for Having Children -- Economic Benefits for Parents -- Psychological Benefits for Parents -- "Savior Siblings" -- Reproductive Freedom -- Illness-Free Existence -- Saving a Life -- The Balance of Means and End -- Does the End Justify the Means? -- Psychological Damage to Savior Siblings? -- Conclusion -- 6. Not "Better Never to Have Been" -- Criticism 1 -- Criticism 2 -- Criticism 3 -- Criticism 4 -- Conclusion -- 7. An Obligation Not to Procreate? -- Might There Be a Moral Responsibility to Oneself Not to Have Children? -- Might There Be a Responsibility Not to Have Children Because One Cannot Achieve "Procreative Beneficence"?.

Might There be a Responsibility Not to Have Children in Order toAvoid Causing Harm? -- 1. A Responsibility Not to Procreate Because of Being Too Young orToo Old -- 2. A Responsibility Based on the Potential Parent's Sexuality or MaritalStatus -- 3. A Responsibility Based on the Potential Parent's Material Situation -- 4. A Responsibility Based on the Likelihood That the Child Will Be Harmed by Living in the Society -- 5. A Responsibility Based on the Likelihood That One Will Not Be a Good Parent -- 6. A Responsibility Based on the Dangers of Multiples -- Conclusion -- 8. Illness, Impairment, and the Procreation Decision -- The Non-Identity Problem -- Nonmaleficence -- Epistemic Issues -- Impairments -- Attitudes toward Persons with Impairments -- Prospective Parents with Impairments -- 9. Overpopulation and Extinction -- Extreme Overpopulation -- Criticisms of the One-Child-Per-Person Responsibility -- The Extinction of the Human Species -- The Value of the Human Species -- Biodiversity -- Do Human Beings Matter? -- A Proposal for Procreative Limitation -- 10. Procreation, Values, and Identity -- Choosing the Nonrational: The Wager -- The Kind of Beings We Are and What Parenting Is About -- The Parent-Child Relationship -- Identity -- Notes -- Chapter 1 -- Chapter 2 -- Chapter 3 -- Chapter 4 -- Chapter 5 -- Chapter 6 -- Chapter 7 -- Chapter 8 -- Chapter 9 -- Chapter 10 -- References -- Index.

A wide-ranging exploration of whether or not choosing to procreate can be morally justified--and if so, how.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.