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    When population growth reduces per-capita resources below... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→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.

    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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    Key Terms

    Aggregate utility(as used in utilitarian ethics)
    The total amount of happiness, well-being, or satisfaction when you add up what all people in a group experience combined.
    Marginally positive lives(as used in population ethics)
    Lives that are barely worth living—where a person has just enough well-being or happiness to make their existence slightly better than not existing at all.
    Per-capita(as used in economics and population ethics)
    The amount of something divided equally among each person in a group; for example, per-capita income means the average income per person.
    Subsistence threshold(as used in ethics and economics)
    The minimum amount of resources (like food, water, shelter) that a person needs to survive and stay alive.
    Utilitarianism

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    (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
    Utility loss(as used in ethics and economics)
    A decrease in happiness, well-being, or satisfaction for a person or group.

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    Classic utilitarianism implies that a government should not provide free contrac...

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