As I understand Eugine, he’d say that in my example above there’s no consequentialist grounds for choosing B over A, since in two years the state of the world is identical and being alive an extra year in the interim isn’t a consequence that motivates choosing B over A.
Right, as a reductio of choosing based on “consequentialist grounds”. His understanding of “consequentialist grounds”.
A reductio argument, as I understand it, adopts the premise to be disproved and shows how that premise leads to a falsehood. What premise is being adopted here, and what contradiction does it lead to?
Um, the premise is that only “consequences” or final outcomes matter, and the falsehood derived is that “creating a person and then killing him is morally equivalent to not creating him in the first place because the consequences are the same”.
But it looks like there may be an inferential distance between us? Regardless, tapping out.
Right, as a reductio of choosing based on “consequentialist grounds”. His understanding of “consequentialist grounds”.
Sorry, I’m not following.
A reductio argument, as I understand it, adopts the premise to be disproved and shows how that premise leads to a falsehood. What premise is being adopted here, and what contradiction does it lead to?
Um, the premise is that only “consequences” or final outcomes matter, and the falsehood derived is that “creating a person and then killing him is morally equivalent to not creating him in the first place because the consequences are the same”.
But it looks like there may be an inferential distance between us? Regardless, tapping out.
That’s your privilege, of course. Thanks for your time.