Dissecting the Non-Identity Problem
Abstract
The non-identity problem is the problem of explaining why some “existence-inducing acts” are morally wrong. Many philosophers have tried to find a solution to this problem. In this article, I explore a different approach. My aim is not to offer a novel solution to the non-identity problem, but rather a different method for addressing it. The non-identity problem looks intractable when we assume that there is a single problem and a single solution to it. Thus, I dissect this problem into three different problems: the “non-comparative harm problem”, the “non-deprivation problem”, and the “creator harm problem”. I discuss these problems separately and explore possible solutions.References
Boonin, D. (2014). The Non-identity Problem and the Ethics of Future People. Oxford University Press.
(2019). Solving the Non-Identity Problem: A Reply to Gardner, Kumar, Malek, Mulgan, Roberts and Wasserman. Law, Ethics and Philosophy, (7): 127-156.
Bradley, B. (2012). Doing Away with Harm. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, (85): 390-412.
Broome, J. (2015). General and Personal Good: Harsanyi’s Contribution to the Theory of Value. I. Hirose & J. Olson (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Value Theory. Oxford University Press: 249-266.
Cohen, A. (2009). Compensation for Historic Injustices: Completing the Boxill and Sher Argument. Philosophy & Public Affairs, (37): 81-102.
Feinberg, J. (1992). Wrongful Life and the Counterfactual Element in Harming. Freedom and Fulfillment. Princeton University Press: 3-36.
Gardner, M., (2015). A Harm-Based Solution to the Non-Identity Problem. Ergo, (2): 427-444.
Hare, C. (2007). Voices from Another World: Must We Respect the Interests of People Who Do Not, and Will Never, Exist? Ethics, (17): 498-523.
Harman, E. (2004). Can We Harm and Benefit in Creating? Philosophical Perspectives, (18): 89-113.
(2009). Harming as Causing Harm. Harming Future Persons. M. Roberts & D. Wasserman (eds.). Springer: 137-154.
Hanser, M. (2008). The Metaphysics of Harm. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, (77): 421-450.
Heyd, D. (2009). The Intractability of the Non-identity Problem. Harming Future Persons. M. Roberts & D. Wasserman (eds.). Springer: 3-25.
Kahane, G. (2009). Non-Identity, Self-Defeat, and Attitudes to Future Children. Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, (145): 193-214.
Kavka, G. (1982). The Paradox of Future Individuals. Philosophy & Public Affairs, (11): 93-112.
Kumar, R. (2018). Risking Future Generations. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, (21): 245-257.
Liberto, H. (2014). The Exploitation Solution to the Non-Identity Problem. Philosophical Studies, (67): 73-88.
Malek, J. (2019). The Non-Identity Non-Problem: Constructing Continuity of Identity among Possible Persons. Law, Ethics and Philosophy, (7): 127-56.
Parfit, D. (1987). Reasons and Persons. Clarendon Press.
(2011). On What Matters. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press.
(2017). Future People, the Non-identity Problem, and Person-Affecting Principles. Philosophy & Public Affair, (45): 118-157.
Podgorski, A. (2020). Partiality, Identity, and Procreation. Philosophy & Public Affairs, (49): 51-77.
Reiman, J. (2007). Being Fair to Future People: The Non-identity Problem in the Original Position. Philosophy & Public Affairs, (35): 69-92.
Ripstein, A. (2006). Beyond the Harm Principle. Philosophy & Public Affairs, (34): 215-245.
Rivera López, E. (2009). Individual Procreative Responsibility and the Non-Identity Problem. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, (90): 99-118.
Roberts, M. (2007). The Non-identity Fallacy: Harm, Probability and Another Look at Parfit’s Depletion Example. Utilitas, (19): 267-311.
Shiffrin, S. (1999). Wrongful Life, Procreative Responsibility, and the Significance of Harm. Legal Theory, (5): 117-148.
Singer, P. (2011). Practical Ethics. Cambridge University Press.
Temkin, L. (1993). Inequality. Clarendon Press.
Thomson, J. (2010). More on the Metaphysics of Harm. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, (82): 436-458.
Timmons, M. (2013). Moral Theory: An Introduction. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc.
Wasserman, D. (2008). Hare on De Dicto Betterness and Prospective Parents. Ethics, (118): 529-535.
(2019). Chasing the Elusive Wrongdoing Intuition. Law, Ethics and Philosophy, (7): 63-83.
Weinberg, R. (2013). Existence: Who Needs It? The Non-Identity Problem and Merely Possible People. Bioethics, (27): 471-484.
Woodward, J. (1986). The Non-identity Problem. Ethics, (96): 804-831.
Woollard, F. (2012). Have We Solved the Non-Identity Problem? Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, (15): 677-690.
