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    The badness of an outcome is not simply the sum of indivi... — Carmelics
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    Supports→Moral catastrophes, such as a million deaths, are not really a million times more catastrophic than one death.

    The badness of an outcome is not simply the sum of individual badnesses, as Parfit's 'Repugnant Conclusion' reveals aggregation produces morally absurd results.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.A world with billions living barely-worthwhile lives seems worse than one with fewer people living excellently, contradicting pure aggregation.
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    • 2.Moral intuitions about fairness and individual dignity suggest we cannot trade off everyone's wellbeing equally for marginal population gains.
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    • 3.Pure aggregation implies we should create vast populations at subsistence level, which conflicts with reasonable constraints on procreative obligations.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Rejecting aggregation requires explaining what non-additive principle determines badness—most alternatives face their own counterintuitive conclusions.
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    • 2.If outcomes aren't determined by individual wellbeing sums, we lack a clear foundation for comparing welfare states or guiding policy decisions.
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    • 3.The Repugnant Conclusion's absurdity may reflect our limited intuitions about large numbers rather than genuine logical failure of aggregation.
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    A world with billions living barely-worthwhile lives seems worse than one with f...If outcomes aren't determined by individual wellbeing sums, we lack a clear foun...Moral catastrophes, such as a million deaths, are not really a million times mor...Moral intuitions about fairness and individual dignity suggest we cannot trade o...
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    Pure aggregation implies we should create vast populations at subsistence level,...Rejecting aggregation requires explaining what non-additive principle determines...The Repugnant Conclusion's absurdity may reflect our limited intuitions about la...

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