Global warming, population explosion, declining ethics, war, genocide. Does the human race have any hope of a meaningful survival and experience? Should we celebrate or lament the birth of a new person?
I'd like to counter your question with another:
Is it immoral to ask people NOT to procreate? since it's a built-in instinct and very hard to resist in some cases.
you misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting that the urge to have sex is being denied. I was really speaking of the urge to reproduce. Possibly you are too young to know of this urge, but most people, at a certain age, realise that a part of their life's purpose is to reproduce. I believe this is a biological urge, an instinctive drive which cannot easily be ignored.
EDIT:
I just read your profile, and learned that you're obviously not too young to know of this urge and in fact have fulfilled it.
Is it immoral to procreate...? If you have to ask... no answer will suffice.
I'm not looking for an answer, just a considered, intelligent discussion. I mean, shouldn't we at least be asking the question?
There are several posters on this board, who I honestly hope DON'T procreate.
I used to believe that procreation was a bad thing to do. maybe not immoral but just not good news for your offspring or yourself. Somehow as i grew up I changed my mind.
Certainly there is a possibility to consider procreation as somehow immoral, but the only way to regulate the morality would be to legislate against excessive procreation, and that's what gave rise to my question:
Is it moral to demand that others cease or refrain from procreating?
don't want people procreating all over the board. that'd just be disgusting
Right, like it has been China or India in the past, but apart from legislated compliance, I simply wonder if people as individuals in the western world turn their minds to notions of "zero population growth" before making the decision to have children, and if they don't whether they should.