TY - JOUR

T1 - What is the harm in harmful conception?

T2 - on threshold harms in non-identity cases

AU - Williams, Nicola

AU - Harris, John

PY - 2014/10

Y1 - 2014/10

N2 - Has the time come to put to bed the concept of a harm threshold when discussing the ethics of reproductive decision making and the legal limits that should be placed upon it? In this commentary, we defend the claim that there exist good moral reasons, despite the conclusions of the non-identity problem, based on the interests of those we might create, to refrain from bringing to birth individuals whose lives are often described in the philosophical literature as ‘less than worth living’.

AB - Has the time come to put to bed the concept of a harm threshold when discussing the ethics of reproductive decision making and the legal limits that should be placed upon it? In this commentary, we defend the claim that there exist good moral reasons, despite the conclusions of the non-identity problem, based on the interests of those we might create, to refrain from bringing to birth individuals whose lives are often described in the philosophical literature as ‘less than worth living’.

KW - Threshold harms

KW - Derek Parfit

KW - The non-identity problem

KW - Comparative harms

KW - Non-comparative harms

KW - Reproductive decision making

U2 - 10.1007/s11017-014-9303-7

DO - 10.1007/s11017-014-9303-7

M3 - Journal article

VL - 35

SP - 337

EP - 351

JO - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics

JF - Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics

SN - 1386-7415

IS - 5

ER -