ABSTRACT
Human population size is one cause of the consumption and pollution of natural resources whose limited supply entails some limitation to human numbers. This number will be lower if a society desires both a life above subsistence and coexistence with nonhuman animals. A society’s population size results either only from the individual decisions of its members to procreate, or also from binding policies that limit it to a sustainable level. Such policies are justified only if the society is consuming and polluting at unsustainable rates and if it has ethical obligations towards future humans and other species.
