Additionally, we can get the sadistic conclusion in a universe where most people’s lives are not worth living by choosing to add another person whose life is not worth living, but whose life is less bad on average.
That’s only true for some systems (eg average utilitarianism). All sensible non-total utilitarian population ethics have some “sadistic” conclusions, but that doesn’t mean that they have all sadistic conclusions.
That’s only true for some systems (eg average utilitarianism). All sensible non-total utilitarian population ethics have some “sadistic” conclusions, but that doesn’t mean that they have all sadistic conclusions.