The risk of a lifetime : how, when, and why procreation may be permissible / Rivka Weinberg
- Author:
- Weinberg, Rivka
- Published:
- Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2016]
- Copyright Date:
- ©2016
- Physical Description:
- xi, 263 pages ; 22 cm
- Contents:
- Imposing existence: a weighty and enigmatic title for a weighty and enigmatic topic -- Who is the parent? (what parental responsibility is and how it is incurred) -- Is procreation (almost) always right? -- Is procreation (almost) always wrong? -- The principles of procreative permissibility -- Procreative principles in the real world.
- Summary:
- Despite its history and the debates that surround procreative ethics, procreation itself is often done thoughtlessly. This book is an argument for giving procreating some serious thought, and a theory of how, when, and why procreation may be permissible. Rivka Weinberg begins with an analysis of the kind of act procreativity is and why we might be justifiably motivated to engage in it. She then proceeds to argue that, by virtue of our ownership and control of the hazardous material that is our gametes, we are parentally responsible for the risks we take with our gametes and for the persons that develop when we engage in activity that allows our gametes to unite with others and develop into persons. Further argument establishes that when done respectfully, and in cases where the child's chances of leading a life of human flourishing are high, procreation may be permissible. Along the way, Weinberg argues that the non-identity problem is a curiously common mistake by demonstrating the serious flaws in arguments for the impressibility of procreation centered on the claim that life is bad for people and imposed on them without their consent.
- Subject(s):
- ISBN:
- 9780190243708 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
0190243708 (hardcover ; alk. paper) - Bibliography Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-257) and index.
- Source of Acquisition:
- Purchased with funds from the Paterno Libraries Endowment (Campus College Libraries); 2015
Purchased with funds from the Paterno Libraries Endowment (Campus College Libraries); 2017
View MARC record | catkey: 16415762