In this discussion, Paul Ehrlich, an entomologist famous for 'The Population Bomb', and Martha Nussbaum, a political philosopher from the University of Chicago, explore the alarming trend of declining birth rates worldwide. They unpack societal attitudes towards childbearing and question whether population control policies are justified. The conversation challenges the utilitarian view of population reduction, advocating for a deeper understanding of family life as a societal good. They also reflect on the ethical implications of these trends and the importance of community.
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Church Rejects Population Control Policies
The Church opposes any public policy that promotes intrinsically evil population control measures.
Arguments for population capping based on feeding children or resources are statistically and morally flawed.
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Human Primacy Over Nature
Humans have stewardship over nature but are not just another animal species.
Limiting human population to save other species is against biblical teaching and misses humanity's primacy.
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Problems with Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism, or consequentialism, is impractical because it can't gauge the greatest good accurately.
Catholic doctrine rejects intrinsically evil acts even if outcomes seem beneficial.
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In 1968, a book called The Population Bomb written by entomologist Paul Ehrlich helped spark panic in the west that the global population was reaching a breaking point, saying too many human beings would soon cause widespread famine and social chaos.
This view that a growing human population is an existential threat to humanity remains widespread to this day. For example, University of Chicago political philosopher Martha Nussbaum recently stated that given the world's current population, "no one should be having any children." Contemporary empirical evidence, however, points in exactly the opposite direction. Deaths are already outpacing births in many regions of the world, resulting in precipitous declines in national populations. Is this good news for humanity? Are public policies aimed at population control justified? Is there such a thing as an ideal population size? Should anyone care about whether others choose to have children or not?
A listener asks whether we should continue going to confession if we keep committing the same sin over and over again.
00:00 | Intro 01:49 | Seminarians kick off school year 03:00 | Assessing population decreases across the globe 05:36 | Increased attitudes against having children 08:24 | Unpacking "culture of death," ego-drama, and theo-drama 11:33 | Childbearing as a societal good 12:35 | Population capping through public policy 14:07 | Human population and the environment 17:03 | Utilitarianism as a faulty moral theory for addressing population concerns 18:51 | Foregoing childbirth to spare potential children pain 21:20 | Foregoing childbirth to favor economic security 22:33 | Foregoing childbirth for lack of desire 24:55 | Old age without children 28:00 | The centrality of fruitfulness 29:14 | Pope St. Paul VI's prophetic ban on artificial contraception 30:57 | How does the Church look forward? 34:05 | Listener question: Does repeating sins disqualify me from Confession? 36:35 | Join the Word on Fire Institute
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