I have one child and do not want more, so I am not seeking for personal advice here. But I am interested in the general ethical question: From an effective utilitarian viewpoint, what are the arguments for and against having children? And if we do chooose to have children, what are the arguments for having few vs. many?
I am restricting the question to rich countries. People in poor countries might face a very different set of problems.
I am not talking about generalized pro-natalism or anti-natalism. I am talking about the cost-benefit analysis. Creating more humans has a certain obvious utility in itself (if we reject generalized anti-natalism), in that it means more humans will be able to enjoy being alive. But it has drawbacks as well. Each citizen in a rich country causes an awful lot of pollution, which may accelerate all sorts of environmental disasters.
There is the concern that an aging population will put more pressure on those people of working age. It is unclear to me how this trend will interact with growing automation, and whether this problem can be fixed or merely postponed.
Furthermore, it obviously makes a huge difference whether we expect an impending singularity, an impending environmental collapse, or both.
In your opinion, is it—as a guideline—good to have many children, or is it better to have few? Why?
[Question] What are the effective utilitarian pros and cons of having children (in rich countries)?
I have one child and do not want more, so I am not seeking for personal advice here. But I am interested in the general ethical question: From an effective utilitarian viewpoint, what are the arguments for and against having children? And if we do chooose to have children, what are the arguments for having few vs. many?
I am restricting the question to rich countries. People in poor countries might face a very different set of problems.
I am not talking about generalized pro-natalism or anti-natalism. I am talking about the cost-benefit analysis. Creating more humans has a certain obvious utility in itself (if we reject generalized anti-natalism), in that it means more humans will be able to enjoy being alive. But it has drawbacks as well. Each citizen in a rich country causes an awful lot of pollution, which may accelerate all sorts of environmental disasters.
There is the concern that an aging population will put more pressure on those people of working age. It is unclear to me how this trend will interact with growing automation, and whether this problem can be fixed or merely postponed.
Furthermore, it obviously makes a huge difference whether we expect an impending singularity, an impending environmental collapse, or both.
In your opinion, is it—as a guideline—good to have many children, or is it better to have few? Why?