Table Of ContentThe Repugnant Conclusion
The Repugnant Conclusion is a controversial theorem about population
size. It states that a sufficiently large population of lives that are barely
worth living is better than a smaller population of high-quality lives. This is
highly counter-intuitive. It implies that we can improve the world by trading
quality of life for quantity of lives. Can it be defended?
Christopher Cowie explores these questions and unpacks the controversies
surrounding the Repugnant Conclusion. He focuses on whether the truth
of the Repugnant Conclusion turns – as some have claimed – on the
uncomfortable claim that many people’s lives are actually bad for them and
that even privileged people lead lives that are only just worth living.
Highly recommended for those interested in ethics, applied ethics and
population studies The Repugnant Conclusion will also be of interest to
those in related disciplines such as economics, development studies, politics
and international relations.
Christopher Cowie is Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University
of Durham, UK. He is the author of Morality and Epistemic Judgment:
The Argument from Analogy (2019), and co-editor of Companions in Guilt
Arguments in Metaethics, also published by Routledge.
Routledge Focus on Philosophy
Routledge Focus on Philosophy is an exciting and innovative new series,
capturing and disseminating some of the best and most exciting new
research in philosophy in short book form. Peer reviewed and at a maximum
of fifty thousand words shorter than the typical research monograph,
Routledge Focus on Philosophy titles are available in both ebook and print
on demand format. Tackling big topics in a digestible format the series
opens up important philosophical research for a wider audience, and as
such is invaluable reading for the scholar, researcher and student seeking
to keep their finger on the pulse of the discipline. The series also reflects
the growing interdisciplinarity within philosophy and will be of interest to
those in related disciplines across the humanities and social sciences.
Extended Consciousness and Predictive Processing
A Third Wave View
Michael D. Kirchhoff and Julian Kiverstein
What We Ought and What We Can
Alex King
The Ethics of Whistleblowing
Eric R. Boot
Totalitarianism and Philosophy
Alan Haworth
The Repugnant Conclusion
A Philosophical Inquiry
Christopher Cowie
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Focus-on-Philosophy/book-series/RFP
The Repugnant Conclusion
A Philosophical Inquiry
Christopher Cowie
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Christopher Cowie
The right of Christopher Cowie to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-60544-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-46811-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
For Rugby Street, Belfast.
High Average Welfare, Low Population.
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
1 Introduction 1
Notes 5
2 The Repugnant Conclusion 6
2.1 Totalist reasoning 6
2.2 Alternatives to Totalism 14
2.3 Continuum Reasoning 25
2.4 Dominance-Addition Reasoning 29
2.5 Conclusion 33
Notes 34
3 The Quality of Life Strategy 37
3.1 The Quality of Life Strategy 38
3.2 Formulating the Quality of Life Strategy 48
3.3 Further issues with quality of life 52
3.4 Trading-off 58
3.5 The value of ordinary life 63
3.6 Conclusion 71
Notes 71
4 The Very Repugnant and Reverse Repugnant Conclusions 73
4.1 The Very Repugnant Conclusion 73
4.2 The Reverse Repugnant Conclusion 85
4.3 A solution? 99
4.4 Conclusion 103
Notes 104
viii Contents
5 Conclusion 106
Notes 108
Bibliography 109
Index 112
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to everyone who has read and commented on earlier drafts of
this manuscript – especially Torbjorn Tännsjö, Clark Wolf, Guy Fletcher,
Anneli Jefferson, Thomas Petersen, Roderick Cowie and an anonymous
referee for Routledge – and to audiences in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Santa
Fe, London, Glasgow, Sheffield and Cumberland Lodge. Thanks also to my
students at Durham – Tom Chapman, Helena Pilcher, Anya Southby and
Tom Pymer – for engaging with this material during its writing.
I am especially grateful to Partha Dasgupta for guiding me through this
material and to Tim Crane for providing the opportunity.
