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Superiority discounting implies the preposterous conclusion
Barrington, Michael
Barrington, Michael
Author
Abstract
Many population axiologies avoid the Repugnant Conclusion (RC) by endorsing Superiority: some number of great lives is better than any number of mediocre lives. But as Nebel shows, RC follows (given plausible auxiliary assumptions) from the Intrapersonal Repugnant Conclusion (IRC): a guaranteed mediocre life is better than a sufficiently small probability of a great life. This result is concerning because IRC is plausible. Recently, Kosonen has argued that IRC can be true while RC is false if small probabilities are discounted to zero. This article details the unique problems created by combining Superiority with discounting. The resultant view, Superiority Discounting, avoids the Repugnant Conclusion only at the cost of the Preposterous Conclusion: near-certain hell for arbitrarily many people is better than near-certain heaven for arbitrarily many people.
Keywords
Date
2022
Type
Journal article
Journal
Utilitas
Book
Volume
34
Issue
4
Page Range
493-501
Article Number
ACU Department
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Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
File Access
Controlled