Question If cause suffering is bad and life is in part suffering, procreate is inherently bad?

Accepted:
May 2, 2013

Comments

Well, with the symmetrical argument you could conclude the opposite:

If causing happiness is good and if life is in part happiness, then procreating is good.

Both conclusions seem inadequately supported. It matters how much suffering and how much happiness one's offspring is likely to face. And there are other valuable and disvaluable things besides happiness and suffering: knowledge, culture, art, science, sports and love may all be good things a future person will experience -- good even if they are unaccompanied by happiness. And there are also contributions this future person will make to the lives of others -- good and bad contributions. So the question whether it's bad to procreate requires a more complex weighing up of considerations than is suggested by your argument.

Question If cause suffering is bad and life is in part suffering, procreate is inherently bad? Accepted:May 2, 2013

Question If cause suffering is bad and life is in part suffering, procreate is inherently bad?

Accepted:
May 2, 2013