| Acknowledgements | 6 |
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| Contents | 7 |
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| Contributors | 10 |
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| Harming Future Persons: Introduction | 12 |
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| 1 Purpose of this Collection | 12 |
| 2 The Person-Affecting Intuition and the Nonidentity Problem | 13 |
| 3 The Nonidentity Cases | 14 |
| 4 Three Strategies for Addressing the Nonidentity Problem | 19 |
| 5 Contributions to this Collection | 22 |
| 6 Conclusion | 34 |
| Notes | 34 |
| References | 36 |
| Part I | 38 |
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| The Intractability of the Nonidentity Problem | 39 |
| 1.1 The Logical and Metaphysical Dimensions of the Problem | 39 |
| 1.2 Four Strategies for Responding to the Nonidentity Problem | 41 |
| 1.3 Numerical, Biographical and Autobiographical Identity | 53 |
| 1.4 Conclusion | 57 |
| Notes | 57 |
| References | 60 |
| Part II | 62 |
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| Rights and the Asymmetry Between Creating Good and Bad Lives | 63 |
| 2.1 The Asymmetry, Common Sense Morality and Rights | 63 |
| 2.2 How the Doctrine of Negative Rights Explains the Asymmetry | 64 |
| 2.3 The Grounds and Groundlessness of Rights | 67 |
| 2.4 The Symmetry of Reasons of Beneficence | 71 |
| Notes | 79 |
| References | 81 |
| Asymmetries in the Morality of Causing People to Exist | 82 |
| 3.1 Introduction | 82 |
| 3.2 Definitions and Distinctions | 83 |
| 3.3 Reasons and Values Presupposed by the Asymmetry | 85 |
| 3.4 The Distinction Between Harming and Benefiting | 87 |
| 3.5 The Individual-Affecting Symmetry View | 91 |
| 3.6 The Antinatalist Symmetry View | 94 |
| 3.7 The Impersonal Symmetry View | 97 |
| 3.8 Conclusion | 99 |
| Notes | 100 |
| References | 101 |
| Part III | 102 |
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| Who Cares About Identity? | 103 |
| 4.1 Introduction | 103 |
| 4.2 The Moral Insignificance of Transworld Identity | 106 |
| 4.3 The Prudential Insignificance of Transworld Identity | 112 |
| 4.4 Genes and Identity | 116 |
| Notes | 120 |
| References | 122 |
| Do Future Persons Presently Have Alternate Possible Identities? | 125 |
| 5.1 The Erewhon Hypothesis | 125 |
| 5.2 Variations on a Theme by Parfit | 126 |
| 5.3 The No-Difference Thesis | 130 |
| 5.4 Identity-Determining Choices and Identity-Determining Characteristics | 131 |
| 5.5 Ambiguous “Identities” | 133 |
| 5.6 Vague “Identities” | 134 |
| 5.7 Alternative Conceptions of “Identity” | 136 |
| 5.8 Future Persons as Vague but Identifiable Objects of Present Obligations | 137 |
| 5.9 Parfit and “The Descriptive View” | 142 |
| 5.10 Return to Erewhon | 144 |
| Notes | 145 |
| References | 146 |
| Rule Consequentialism and Non-identity | 147 |
| 6.1 Introduction | 147 |
| 6.2 Two Decisive Intuitions | 148 |
| 6.3 How Simple Consequentialism Fails | 151 |
| 6.4 Why Simple Consequentialism Fails | 154 |
| 6.5 Rule Consequentialism | 155 |
| 6.6 A Contingent Morality | 159 |
| 6.7 Rule Consequentialism and Moral Philosophy | 162 |
| Notes | 164 |
| References | 165 |
| Part IV | 167 |
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| Harming as Causing Harm | 168 |
| 7.1 Introduction | 168 |
| 7.2 Harming as Causing Harm | 170 |
| 7.3 Solving the Non-identity Problem | 171 |
| 7.4 Harming and Benefiting Those Who Independently Exist | 176 |
| 7.5 Is Causing Harm Sufficient for Harming? | 179 |
| 7.6 Conclusion | 181 |
| Notes | 182 |
| References | 185 |
| Wrongful Life and Procreative Decisions | 186 |
| 8.1 Introduction | 186 |
| 8.2 How Bad Is It? | 188 |
| 8.3 The Philosophical Problem | 188 |
| 8.4 Preventing Births to Protect Children | 189 |
| 8.5 The Nonexistence Condition | 192 |
| 8.6 The Human Rights Approach | 197 |
| 8.7 The Non-Identity Problem | 198 |
| 8.8 Conclusion | 205 |
| Notes | 205 |
| References | 208 |
| Other References | 209 |
| Harming and Procreating | 210 |
| 9.1 | 210 |
| 9.2 | 212 |
| 9.3 | 213 |
| 9.4 | 215 |
| 9.5 | 217 |
| 9.6 | 221 |
| 9.7 | 223 |
| 9.8 | 225 |
| 9.9 | 225 |
| 9.10 | 226 |
| Notes | 227 |
| References | 230 |
| The Nonidentity Problem and the Two Envelope Problem: When is One Act Better for a Person than Another? | 231 |
| 10.1 Parallel Problems | 231 |
| 10.2 A Person-Based Approach to Procreative Choice | 235 |
| 10.3 The Nonidentity Problem | 239 |
| 10.4 The Two-Envelope Problem | 247 |
| 10.5 Conclusion | 252 |
| Notes | 253 |
| References | 257 |
| Part V | 259 |
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| Reproduction, Partiality, and the Non-identity Problem | 260 |
| 11.1 The Liberal View of Reproduction | 260 |
| 11.2 Reproduction and Non-identity |
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