Rivka Weinberg, “The Risk of a Lifetime: How, When, and Why Procreation May be Permissible” (Oxford UP, 2016)
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Why is procreation considered a moral issue and what are the main questions addressed in the book?
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Welcome to the New Books and Philosophy Channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talise. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co host the channel with Carrie Figter. And Carrie is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa. Today my guest is Professor Rivka Weinberg. Her new book is titled The Risk of a Lifetime How, When and Why Procreation May Be Permissible. It was just published by Oxford University Press. Weinberg is Professor of Philosophy at Scripps College, Claremont. We don't commonly think of procreation as a moral issue. But why not? When you think about it, creating another person seems like a morally weighty thing to do. And we tend to think that procreation under certain conditions would be irresponsible or selfish or even reckless.
Might there also be cases where procreation is morally impermissible? In the risk of a lifetime, Rivka Wanberg explores a broad range of questions concerning the morality of procreation. She argues that procreation is a form of risk imposition and so is morally permissible only under certain circumstances. In taking this view, she placed herself in opposition to two more popular stances. One holding that procreation is almost never impermissible, and the other that procreation is never permissible. Employing a Rawlsian constructivist model, Weinberg proposes two principles that establish conditions for permissible procreation. The risk of a lifetime is a lively and nuanced book, and there's a lot to talk about.
So let's turn to the interview. Hello Rivka Weinberg.
Hi Bob.
How are you today? I'm fine. How are you? Oh, doing okay. Doing okay. Thank you for joining us on New Books in Philosophy to talk about your book.
Thanks so much for having me on.
And thank you, listener, for tuning into the podcast. My guest today is Rivka Wanberg. Her new book is titled The risk of a lifetime. How, when and why procreation may be permissible. The book is published newly by Oxford University Press. And It presents a sort of a lively exploration of um a range of issues dealing with the ethics of procreation. Um after all, uh when you think about it, uh the creation of a new person is a pretty momentous thing. Um And moreover, um, it's commonly thought Um that life Uh is it best to mix bags? Um So one wonders, could it be that um Uh it's wrong or problematic or morally questionable to procreate? Um In the risk of a lifetime, uh Rivka skillfully develops uh a pretty um detailed and nuanced view, according to which procreation is permissible under
Specific conditions. Um And getting clear about what those conditions are and what the constraints are, uh, is is is really what what uh is is the heart of at the heart of this pretty exciting book.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why is procreation considered a moral issue and what are the main questions addressed in the book?
0:00–8:01
2
How does Rivka Weinberg define procreation as a form of risk imposition?
8:01–15:43
3
What are the two main philosophical positions on the permissibility of procreation that the book critiques?
15:43–24:50
4
How does the Rawlsian constructivist model lead to the two principles governing permissible procreation?
24:50–33:15
5
What is the ‘motivation restriction’ principle and why is it important for parental responsibility?
33:15–41:10
6
How does the ‘procreative balance’ principle evaluate the risks to future children?
41:10–49:44
7
What surprising implications does the framework have for abortion, adoption, and disability?
49:44–58:57
8
What future research directions does Weinberg suggest for procreative ethics?
58:57–1:06:24
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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