This is exactly my intuition. When I think about “lives barely worth living” I imagine someone who is constantly on the edge of suicide. Then I think, well that seems really bad to me, but who am I to say that that person’s life is not worth living? If I can’t look that person in the eye and say, “your life is not worth living” (which I almost certainly can’t do) , then how can I say that my world of “lives barely worth living” is made up of people with better lives than them?
Your paraphrasing of Dasgupta’s insights is helpful, and I think incorporating the negativity of death may alleviate some of my perceived Repugnancy of the aforementioned Conclusion.
This is exactly my intuition. When I think about “lives barely worth living” I imagine someone who is constantly on the edge of suicide. Then I think, well that seems really bad to me, but who am I to say that that person’s life is not worth living? If I can’t look that person in the eye and say, “your life is not worth living” (which I almost certainly can’t do) , then how can I say that my world of “lives barely worth living” is made up of people with better lives than them?
Your paraphrasing of Dasgupta’s insights is helpful, and I think incorporating the negativity of death may alleviate some of my perceived Repugnancy of the aforementioned Conclusion.