ABSTRACT
We can ask now whether there is reason to start new lives. The focus is on human lives, and on starting such lives, not for third-party reasons, but either for the sake of the one whose life it is, or for the sake of the universe. Many, intuitively, will say no. But many, again intuitively, say there are reasons against starting bad lives. This pair of views – reasons against bad, no reasons for good – constitutes The Asymmetry. Though this has intuitive support it meets with considerable resistance. Some insist that there are reasons to start new lives. And some claim that holding to the pair of views is theoretically inelegant. The argument here is that we should accept the Asymmetry. Opposing views are not as strong as they might appear. First, reasons to start imply claims about intrinsic value. And these have been discredited. Second, we can build on the previous chapter. Suppose a life has recently been started. If it is a bad life, there are reasons to end it. But if it is a good life still there are no reasons to sustain it. There is no puzzling mismatch between what we should think about starting lives and saving lives.
