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    Classic utilitarianism implies that a government should n... — Carmelics
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    Classic utilitarianism implies that a government should not provide free contraceptives even when the population increase causes widespread suffering, because total net utility increases with more people.

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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Classic utilitarianism holds that an act is right if and only if it maximizes total utility.
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    • 2.Without free contraceptives, overcrowding brings hunger, disease, and pain, making each existing person worse off.
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    • 3.Each new person born will have enough pleasure and other goods that total net utility increases with population growth.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Classic utilitarianism, properly applied, requires maximizing aggregate welfare, which includes the severe diminishing marginal utility of resources under overpopulation.
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    • 2.When population growth reduces per-capita resources below subsistence thresholds, the aggregate utility loss to existing persons outweighs gains from adding marginally positive lives.
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    • 3.Therefore, Bentham's own hedonic calculus—accounting for intensity, duration, and extent of pleasure and pain—can mandate contraceptive provision when suffering is widespread and severe.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Derek Parfit's 'Repugnant Conclusion' demonstrates that naive total utility maximization produces absurd results, motivating average utilitarianism as a rival classical framework.
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    • 2.Under average utilitarianism, adding persons whose welfare falls below the existing average lowers overall utility, making free contraceptives obligatory when new lives would be born into suffering.
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    • 3.The claim therefore misidentifies which version of classical utilitarianism is historically dominant, since Mill and Sidgwick both acknowledged qualitative distinctions that complicate simple population addition.
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    Topics

    Consequentialism

    Key Terms

    Net utility(as used in ethics and decision-making)
    The total amount of happiness or well-being minus the total amount of suffering in a situation; basically the overall balance of good versus bad.
    Utilitarianism(One of Sidgwick's three methods of ethics)
    The view that an individual self-evidently ought to aim at the maximum balance of happiness for all sentient beings present and future, whatever the cost to herself; also called Universalistic Hedonism
    classic utilitarianism(Contrasted with negative and average utilitarianism in the context of population ethics.)
    The moral theory holding that an act is right if and only if it maximizes total utility across all affected individuals.
    utility(Mill's qualification distinguishing his conception of utility from narrower hedonistic or preference-based interpretations.)
    Utility in the largest sense, grounded on the permanent interests of man as a progressive being — not mere immediate pleasure or preference satisfaction.

    Related

    Classic utilitarianism holds that an act is right if and only if it maximizes to...Classic utilitarianism, properly applied, requires maximizing aggregate welfare,...Derek Parfit's 'Repugnant Conclusion' demonstrates that naive total utility maxi...Each new person born will have enough pleasure and other goods that total net ut...
    +5 moreShow less
    The claim therefore misidentifies which version of classical utilitarianism is h...Therefore, Bentham's own hedonic calculus—accounting for intensity, duration, an...

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: consequentialism
    View source passageHide passage
    A related issue arises from population change. Imagine that a government considers whether to provide free contraceptives to curb a rise in population. Without free contraceptives, overcrowding will bring hunger, disease, and pain, so each person will be worse off. Still, each new person will have enough pleasure and other goods that the total net utility will increase with the population. Classic utilitarianism focuses on total utility, so it seems to imply that this government should not provi
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Under average utilitarianism, adding persons whose welfare falls below the exist...
    When population growth reduces per-capita resources below subsistence thresholds...
    Without free contraceptives, overcrowding brings hunger, disease, and pain, maki...

    Similar

    Negative utilitarianism implies that a government should provide free ...91%Average utilitarianism evaluates populations by mean utility rather th...81%Average utilitarianism is Malthusian: it prefers a happier population ...80%Average utilitarianism is overly restrictive for affluent populations ...79%
    Type
    claim
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    3 (1 for, 2 against)
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    1 edit