#766 Krister Bykvist: Metaethics, Population Ethics, and Antinatalism
RECORDED ON NOVEMBER 21st 2022.
Dr. Krister Bykvist is Professor in Practical Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at Stockholm University and Research Fellow at the Institute for Future Studies. He has been a visiting researcher at the Department of Philosophy, Canada, and at SCAS, Uppsala. His research concerns questions about our responsibility for future generations, the foundations of consequentialism, evaluative uncertainty (’What should we do when we are not certain about our values?’), and the relationship between preferences, value, and welfare. He is leading the project ‘Valuing Future Lives’ (funded by the Swedish Research Council), and Gustaf Arrhenius is my main co-researcher. He is the author of Moral Uncertainty.
In this episode, we talk about metaethics. We start by discussing what the most basic questions in metaethics are, how ethics can be objective, and the metaphysical status of moral facts. We talk about the relationship between preferences, values, and wellbeing. We get into population ethics, and discuss questions related to future demographics, climate change, and social security. Finally, we discuss antinatalism, if life is worth starting, and if we can determine objectively the amount of good and bad in human life.
Time Links:
Intro
The most basic questions in metaethics
How can ethics be objective?
The metaphysical status of moral facts
The relationship between preferences, values, and wellbeing
Population ethics
Demographics, climate change, and social security
Antinatalism. Is life worth starting?
Determining the amount of good and bad in life
Follow Dr. Bykvist’s work!
Follow Dr. Bykvist’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3AJ674V
PhilPeople profile: https://bit.ly/3z2RsAd
Moral Uncertainty: https://amzn.to/3xZjoUx