Work

The Unhappy Conclusion

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.I argue that it is better to live an extremely long, drab life than a happy life of normal length. I rely on four premises, concerning (1) the separability of well-being in time, (2) the circumstances in which we should prolong someone's life, (3) the shape-of-a-life hypothesis, and (4) tradeoffs between different levels of well-being within a life. I show that the conclusion has implications for the Millian lexical superiority view and for population ethics.

Source: Free & Equal A Journal of Ethics and Public Affairs

DOI: 10.16995/fe.18353

Author: Patrick McKee

Institutions: Brown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Philosophical Ethics and Theory

Subfield: Philosophy

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W4414640314

FWCI:

Cites:

Cited by:

Related to: