The opposite of doing wrong is NOT doing wrong, and is also doing right. If it is wrong to kill to reproduce in the situation under discussion, it is right not to kill—that is, it is right not to reproduce at all. But this is false, so it is right to kill in that situation.
We might be arguing word definitions at this point,
Indeed. If you say “such and such is morally wrong, but not blameworthy,” then you are definitely not speaking of morally wrong as I or any normal person means it.
The opposite of doing wrong is NOT doing wrong, and is also doing right
You deny the existence of morally neutral acts? There’s a difference between “not blameworthy” and “praiseworthy”.
If you say “such and such is morally wrong, but not blameworthy
That’s not exactly what I said. But I’m not so confident that normal persons entirely agree with each other on such definitions. If an insane person kills another person, we may not call that blameworthy (because the insane person is not a competent moral agent), but we still call the act itself “wrong”, because it is unlawful, has predictably bad consequences, and would be blameworthy had a (counterfactually) competent person done it. I hear “normal person”s use this kind of definition all the time.
There are acts which are neutral in the abstract, which can sometimes be good and sometimes bad. But particular acts are always one or the other. This is obvious, since if an act contributes to a good purpose, and there is nothing bad about it, it will be good. On the other hand, if it contributes to no good purpose at all, it will be bad, because it will be a waste of time and energy.
I think a normal person would be more likely to say that an act by an incompetent person “would” be wrong, if it were done by a competent person, rather than saying that it “is” wrong. But I don’t think there is much disagreement there. I agree that in order to be blameworthy, a person has to be responsible for their actions. This makes no difference to the scenario under discussion, because people would be purposely reproducing. They could just not reproduce, if they wanted to; so if the act were wrong, they would be morally obliged not to reproduce, and this is false.
But particular acts are always one or the other. This is obvious, since if an act contributes to a good purpose, and there is nothing bad about it, it will be good. On the other hand, if it contributes to no good purpose at all, it will be bad, because it will be a waste of time and energy.
You can’t have this both ways. You define the morality of an act not by its consequence, but by whether the agent should be blamed for the consequence. But then you also deny the existence of morally neutral acts based on consequence alone. Contradiction.
Moral agents in the real world are not omniscient, not even logically omniscient. Particular acts may always have perfect or suboptimal consequences, but real agents can’t always predict this, and thus cannot be blamed for acting in a way that turns out to be suboptimal in hindsight (in the case the prediction was mistaken).
It sounds like you’re defining anything suboptimal as “bad”, rather than a lesser good. If you do accept the existence of lesser goods and lesser evils, then replace “suboptimal” with “bad” and “perfect” with “good” in the above paragraph, and the argument still works.
You can’t have this both ways. You define the morality of an act not by its consequence, but by whether the agent should be blamed for the consequence. But then you also deny the existence of morally neutral acts based on consequence alone. Contradiction.
There is no contradiction. If you reasonably believe that no good will come of your act, you are blameworthy for performing it, and it is a bad act. If you reasonably believe good will come of your act, and that it is not a bad act, you are praiseworthy.
The opposite of doing wrong is NOT doing wrong, and is also doing right. If it is wrong to kill to reproduce in the situation under discussion, it is right not to kill—that is, it is right not to reproduce at all. But this is false, so it is right to kill in that situation.
Indeed. If you say “such and such is morally wrong, but not blameworthy,” then you are definitely not speaking of morally wrong as I or any normal person means it.
You deny the existence of morally neutral acts? There’s a difference between “not blameworthy” and “praiseworthy”.
That’s not exactly what I said. But I’m not so confident that normal persons entirely agree with each other on such definitions. If an insane person kills another person, we may not call that blameworthy (because the insane person is not a competent moral agent), but we still call the act itself “wrong”, because it is unlawful, has predictably bad consequences, and would be blameworthy had a (counterfactually) competent person done it. I hear “normal person”s use this kind of definition all the time.
There are acts which are neutral in the abstract, which can sometimes be good and sometimes bad. But particular acts are always one or the other. This is obvious, since if an act contributes to a good purpose, and there is nothing bad about it, it will be good. On the other hand, if it contributes to no good purpose at all, it will be bad, because it will be a waste of time and energy.
I think a normal person would be more likely to say that an act by an incompetent person “would” be wrong, if it were done by a competent person, rather than saying that it “is” wrong. But I don’t think there is much disagreement there. I agree that in order to be blameworthy, a person has to be responsible for their actions. This makes no difference to the scenario under discussion, because people would be purposely reproducing. They could just not reproduce, if they wanted to; so if the act were wrong, they would be morally obliged not to reproduce, and this is false.
You can’t have this both ways. You define the morality of an act not by its consequence, but by whether the agent should be blamed for the consequence. But then you also deny the existence of morally neutral acts based on consequence alone. Contradiction.
Moral agents in the real world are not omniscient, not even logically omniscient. Particular acts may always have perfect or suboptimal consequences, but real agents can’t always predict this, and thus cannot be blamed for acting in a way that turns out to be suboptimal in hindsight (in the case the prediction was mistaken).
It sounds like you’re defining anything suboptimal as “bad”, rather than a lesser good. If you do accept the existence of lesser goods and lesser evils, then replace “suboptimal” with “bad” and “perfect” with “good” in the above paragraph, and the argument still works.
There is no contradiction. If you reasonably believe that no good will come of your act, you are blameworthy for performing it, and it is a bad act. If you reasonably believe good will come of your act, and that it is not a bad act, you are praiseworthy.