한
All perspectives

1984

Parfit — Can we harm future people whose existence depends on our choice?

If a better policy would have meant that this person never existed, can the present policy be said to make that person worse off?

Derek ParfitReasons and Persons

Evidence-backed account

The nonidentity problem arises when different long-term policies cause different people to exist, frustrating a purely person-affecting account of harm as making someone worse off than otherwise.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • The Nonidentity Problem

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: §1 The Problem; policy and future-person cases

    Open source

There is no consensus on criticizing choices that create people with worthwhile but worse lives; proposals appeal to rights, thresholds, non-comparative harm, or impersonal principles.

Open evidence

This is an evidence-linked editorial paraphrase, not a direct quotation.

  • The Nonidentity Problem

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: §2–§4, proposed solutions and remaining problems

    Open source
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