ABSTRACT
One of the stock objections to utilitarianism goes like this : “If utilitarianism is correct, then we must be obliged to produce as many children as possible, so long as their happiness would exceed their misery” It has always seemed to me that there is a certain air of sophistry about this argument, and in this paper, I shall endeavor to demonstrate this by exposing the fallacies upon which it is founded. I shall also consider in its own right the question of the nature and extent of our duties in the line of procreation, if any, on the utilitarian principle. To this end, three preliminary matters must be explained.
