Harming as Causing Harm

Harm

“…35 Perry (2003) disagrees. Harman (2009) agrees. Note that the fact that every historical worsening is a harm implies the falsity of what we might call contextualism about harm, according to which E is a harm for A just in case E is A's deviating for the worse in some respect from the course of events that it would be reasonable for A to expect to undergo, given the circumstances that A happens to occupy.…”

“…Epicurus has not been entirely without his recent fans; see Rosenbaum (1986) and Suits (2001). 48 Shiffrin (2012; and Harman (2009) argue that non-comparativism's ability to say that one can be harmed at the first moment of one's existence (since one can be in a bad state at the first moment of one's existence) is a mark in its favor. Unsurprisingly, I think it is a mark in its disfavor.…”

Is there a moral obligation to select healthy children?

“…For Harman and Shiffrin, it is direct causation 3 8 9. Hanser argues, using the following case, that it must be more than causation:

Short-sightedness: a doctor performs an operation on a patient to reduce their short-sightedness.

…”

“…Harman points out that there are two ways in which harming someone is bad 8. These are drawn out by the objection that, on her view, there is no obvious difference between knowingly conceiving a deaf child and (painlessly) deafening an existing child.…”

“…A bad state could be … When the child's experience falls below a certain threshold of normality7When the child's experience is below a minimally decent threshold5When there is a chasm between the person's will and their experience3Premature death, disability, disfigurement or damage8 9A state one would have a strong rational preference not to be in 10…”