this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2024
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Something that no one has discussed in this highly enlightened conversation here is the issue of consent. A person cannot consent to being born. Full stop. I don't know of a way around that besides ignoring it.
But they also can't request it. What do you do for the people who don't exist yet that desire existence?
I should note that I have gone around the local NICU and requested all the children present to indicate a desire to stop existing. None of them agreed. Many of them were struggling mightily to continue to exist. A few even yelled at me for asking the question. I'll admit its a small sample size, but hard to argue with a 100% existence endorsement.
The problem I have with your argument is that it could easily be used to justify rape. A person who is incapable of giving consent is also incapable of requesting things, so does that make it okay to just assume consent?
It means that the original argument of consent to life is invalid. Consent isn't possible until life. It's a great philosophical problem but not one with a known solution.
Another note on the original post, their argument could also be used to justify going through the NICU and killing every newborn. So there's a clear 'pro life' bias going on here, with acts that bring more life being seen as good, regardless of consent. Wouldn't a more reasoned approach be to maintain, keep those who are alive, alive, and those not yet existing, unexisting? Forcing a being across the border is bad, regardless of direction.