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To be (disadvantaged) or not to be? An egalitarian guide for creating new people

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  • Shlomi Segall

Abstract

Derek Parfit held that in evaluating the future, we should ignore the difference between necessary persons and merely possible persons. In this article, I look at one of the most prominent alternatives to Parfit's view, namely Michael Otsuka and Larry Temkin ‘shortfall complaints’ view. In that view, we aggregate future persons’ well-being and deduct intrapersonal shortfall complaints, giving extra weight to the complaints of necessary persons. I offer here a third view. I reject Parfit's no difference view in that I register a difference between necessary and possible persons. But I also reject the Shortfall View and replace its intra-personal complaints with an inter- personal complaints mechanism. I argue that the value of a population is its aggregate prioritarian value minus the egalitarian complaints that necessary persons hold. I show that the egalitarian view has all the explanatory power of the Shortfall view in easy cases, while significantly improving on it in three sorts of tough cases.

Suggested Citation

  • Shlomi Segall, 2024. "To be (disadvantaged) or not to be? An egalitarian guide for creating new people," Politics, Philosophy & Economics, , vol. 23(2), pages 154-180, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pophec:v:23:y:2024:i:2:p:154-180
    DOI: 10.1177/1470594X231189820
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Voorhoeve, Alex, 2021. "Equality for Prospective People: A Novel Statement and Defence," Utilitas, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 304-320, September.
    2. Otsuka, Michael, 2012. "Prioritarianism and the Separateness of Persons," Utilitas, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 365-380, September.
    3. Voorhoeve, Alex & Fleurbaey, Marc, 2012. "Egalitarianism and the Separateness of Persons," Utilitas, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(3), pages 381-398, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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