Episode

#1243 Jeff McMahan: Antinatalism, Extinctionism, Gene Editing, and Overpopulation

Podcast
The Dissenter
Published
Apr 20, 2026
Duration seconds
6071
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Markdown
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Summary

******Support the channel****** Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on****** Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/ The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Jeff McMahan is Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford. He specializes in Practical Ethics, Political Philosophy, and Ethics. He is editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas. He’s the author of books like The Morality of Nationalism, The Ethics of Killing: Problems at the Margins of Life, and Killing in War. In this episode, we talk about reproductive ethics. We first discuss antinatalism, and what makes life worth living or starting. We explore the ethics of abortion. We talk about extinctionism. We discuss the ethics of gene editing and embryo selection, and eugenics. Finally, we talk about population ethics, and explore questions such as whether there are instances where there would be a duty to reproduce; whether women are coerced into reproducing; and overpopulation, and instances where there would be a moral duty to not reproduce. -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROB…