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    Any theory that sums unbounded quantities across arbitrar... — Carmelics
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    Supports→Classical utilitarianism is subject to the repugnant conclusion.

    Any theory that sums unbounded quantities across arbitrarily large populations must treat sufficiently large numbers of marginal welfare units as outweighing any finite stock of high welfare.

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    Key Terms

    Finite stock(contrasted with unbounded (unlimited) quantities to show the logical problem being described)
    A limited amount of something—it has an actual maximum and can't keep growing forever.
    Marginal welfare units(thinking about whether many small improvements to many people could outweigh big improvements to fewer people)
    Small, individual additions to someone's happiness or well-being—the tiny increases in how good life is for one more person.
    Outweighing(in this statement, asking whether small gains for many people matter more than large gains for few)
    Being more important, valuable, or significant than something else; tipping the scales in your favor.
    Theory(Among the candidate bearers of consistency/inconsistency)
    A set of sentences closed under logical consequence.

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    Unbounded quantities(in this statement, referring to things that could theoretically be counted or added up forever)
    Numbers or amounts that have no upper limit—they can keep growing infinitely without ever reaching a maximum.
    welfare(Critique of Stein's strict health-welfare correlation)
    A subjective notion of well-being that is affected by multiple domains, not health alone.

    Connections

    2 topics

    Consequentialism1 linkedJustice & Punishment1 linked

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    Classical utilitarianism is subject to the repugnant conclusion.

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