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I don't think that is the argument, because it presupposes those future generations exist. The argument is that if we somehow prevented those future generations

I don't think that is the argument, because it presupposes those future generations exist. The argument is that if we somehow prevented those future generations from existing (without violating our duties to any currently existing peoples) then we wouldn't owe a duty to them. I think this is pretty obviously true. But some people do disagree and say that we have a duty to ensure that future generations do exist.

esafak 1y ago
*You* are the future generation of your ancestors. I assume you would not have wanted to live in a universe when humanity was wiped out aeons ago, or left to some Mad Max existence. The people making that argument do so from the luxury of not having had many ancestors that held such misanthropic beliefs. I would ask them to contemplate Kant's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative
- dragonwriter 1y ago
  > I assume you would not have wanted to live in a universe when humanity was wiped out aeons ago I am pretty sure it would be impossible for that to occur, unless you are talking to a non-human (in which case they very much might want that.)
  - esafak 1y ago
    This is a thought experiment where we consider the ramifications of holding this belief. In a universe where this belief is held, your existence may be thoroughly miserable. Would you accept that? And even if you did personally, on what basis do you have the right to make this decision for everybody else? The rational and moral behavior is for you to decide your own fate and leave others alone.
    - dragonwriter 1y ago
      > This is a thought experiment where we consider the ramifications of holding this belief. If we are waving away the natural laws of the universe (which we must for the hypothetical to be possible) than the consequences can be anything anyone in the sevate chooses them to be, because there is no longer any rule between cause and effect.
      - esafak 1y ago
        We are not waving anything away. If you mess up the planet, you will be worse off and cursing your anti-natalist ancestors. Antinatalism negates itself on a timescale longer than a generation. It is anti-Darwinian. We exist because such idiots already killed themselves off, or others smacked some sense into them.
- trealira 1y ago
  >I assume you would not have wanted to live in a universe when humanity was wiped out aeons ago, or left to some Mad Max existence. But if that had happened, none of us would have been born to care anyway. I'm not arguing for antinatalism, but this seems like a strange argument.

esafak 1y ago

*You* are the future generation of your ancestors. I assume you would not have wanted to live in a universe when humanity was wiped out aeons ago, or left to some Mad Max existence. The people making that argument do so from the luxury of not having had many ancestors that held such misanthropic beliefs. I would ask them to contemplate Kant's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative

dragonwriter 1y ago
> I assume you would not have wanted to live in a universe when humanity was wiped out aeons ago I am pretty sure it would be impossible for that to occur, unless you are talking to a non-human (in which case they very much might want that.)
- esafak 1y ago
  This is a thought experiment where we consider the ramifications of holding this belief. In a universe where this belief is held, your existence may be thoroughly miserable. Would you accept that? And even if you did personally, on what basis do you have the right to make this decision for everybody else? The rational and moral behavior is for you to decide your own fate and leave others alone.
  - dragonwriter 1y ago
    > This is a thought experiment where we consider the ramifications of holding this belief. If we are waving away the natural laws of the universe (which we must for the hypothetical to be possible) than the consequences can be anything anyone in the sevate chooses them to be, because there is no longer any rule between cause and effect.
    - esafak 1y ago
      We are not waving anything away. If you mess up the planet, you will be worse off and cursing your anti-natalist ancestors. Antinatalism negates itself on a timescale longer than a generation. It is anti-Darwinian. We exist because such idiots already killed themselves off, or others smacked some sense into them.
trealira 1y ago
>I assume you would not have wanted to live in a universe when humanity was wiped out aeons ago, or left to some Mad Max existence. But if that had happened, none of us would have been born to care anyway. I'm not arguing for antinatalism, but this seems like a strange argument.