this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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Futurology

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (3 children)

What if it requires 1/1000th the number of animals … but each one suffers a hundred times more?

Would it be worth it?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

From a utilitarian perspective, you're still reducing overall suffering by an order of magnitude, so your scenario is still a greater good.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

This assumes a linear value function of course

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

stem cells can suffer? this isn't cloning an animal, it's cloning certain tissues.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

Hence the word “if” here. A hypothetical scenario.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

How do you quantify suffering?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

If you don’t have a way of quantifying suffering, perhaps all utilitarian calculus is bunk?