Res Philosophica 92 (2):1-23 (2015)
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Abstract |
It seems natural to choose whether to have a child by reflecting on what it would be like to actually have a child. I argue that this natural approach fails. If you choose to become a parent, and your choice is based on projections about what you think it would be like for you to have a child, your choice is not rational. If you choose to remain childless, and your choice is based upon projections about what you think it would be like for you to have a child, your choice is not rational. This suggests we should reject our ordinary conception of how to make this life-changing decision, and raises general questions about how to rationally approach important life choices.
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Keywords | transformative experience epistemically transformative experience decision theory what it's like qualia family planning rational choice normative decision theory Birth pregnancy authenticity revelation |
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DOI | 10.11612/resphil.2015.92.2.1 |
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References found in this work BETA
What Experience Teaches.David K. Lewis - 1990 - In William G. Lycan (ed.), Mind and Cognition. Blackwell. pp. 29--57.
Hard Choices: Decision Making Under Unresolved Conflict.Isaac Levi - 1990 - Cambridge University Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
Expanding Transformative Experience.Havi Carel & Ian James Kidd - 2020 - European Journal of Philosophy 28 (1):199-213.
First Personal Modes of Presentation and the Structure of Empathy.L. A. Paul - 2017 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 60 (3):189-207.
Expecting the Unexpected.Tom Dougherty, Sophie Horowitz & Paulina Sliwa - 2015 - Res Philosophica 92 (2):301-321.
View all 61 citations / Add more citations
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