So I think I've found a solution by adding a minimum "life worth living" value. What this means is there is a threshold below which a life is no longer worth living. By adding this, I would say that peak value is the most important value, as long as increasing it does not decrease any population below the value of a life worth living. For example, let's say anything below a wellbeing of 5 is not a life worth living. It is alright to do whatever it takes to increase the population in a given world with the highest peak value to a higher peak value, so long as no other population in the world falls below a wellbeing of 5. So in more generic terms, decreasing a population below the level of a life worth living trumps increasing peak value.
I remember Derek Parfit having something to say about ethical theories that take a minimum "life worth living" value into account, but I don't quite remember exactly what he said. I'll have to look it up and see if he has anything that messes up my theory.
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It seems you kept the two population's numbers disconnected until this post, which brings to question: Is having a minimum truly ensuring the best scenario? In this world, we virtually have no minimum life value, which guarantees us an unlimited peak life value, assuming the two are connected. In my 'humble-o' a world with a limited peak value is not as great as a world without a limited peak value. The idea of necessary evil comes to mind. Perhaps that is what you're trying to find, the line between necessary evil and unnecessary evil.
ReplyDeleteI'm not limiting the peak value at all. And I'm also not saying that there is a minimum value for life. What I mean by a minimum value for a life worth living is that any life that has a wellbeing below this threshold (which in the example was 5, so any life/population with a wellbeing below 5) is not a life worth living. And by "not a life worth living" what i mean is that the population/person would rather be dead than alive. This seems anathema to some people, as many people believe that life itself has an inherent value and puts you above the "life worth living" threshold, but I personally disagree.
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