scholarly journals What Should We Agree on about the Repugnant Conclusion?

Utilitas ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane Zuber ◽  
Nikhil Venkatesh ◽  
Torbjörn Tännsjö ◽  
Christian Tarsney ◽  
H. Orri Stefánsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Original Formulation ◽  
Repugnant Conclusion ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Population Ethics ◽  
Very High

The Repugnant Conclusion is an implication of some approaches to population ethics. It states, in Derek Parfit's original formulation, For any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. (Parfit 1984: 388)

Why We Ought to Accept the Repugnant Conclusion

Utilitas ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torbjorn Tannsjo
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Derek Parfit ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Repugnant Conclusion ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Hedonistic Utilitarianism ◽  
Sentient Beings ◽  
Very High

Derek Parfit has famously pointed out that ‘total’ utilitarian views, such as classical hedonistic utilitarianism, lead to the conclusion that, to each population of quite happy persons there corresponds a more extensive population with people living lives just worth living, which is (on the whole) better. In particular, for any possible population of at least ten billion people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better, even though its members have lives that are barely worth living. This world is better if the sum total of well-being is great enough, and it is great enough if only enough sentient beings inhabit it. This conclusion has been considered by Parfit and others to be ‘repugnant’.

Multidimensional Consequentialism and Population Ethics

2018 ◽  
pp. 51-70
Author(s):  
Martin Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Impossibility Theorem ◽  
Worth Living ◽  
Average Quality ◽  
Population Ethics ◽  
Main Claim ◽  
Moral Aspect ◽  
Mere Addition ◽  
Mere Addition Paradox

The main claim of this chapter is that multidimensional consequentialists have reason to reject some of the key premises of Parfit’s Mere Addition Paradox as well as Arrhenius’s sixth impossibility theorem. The latter is the most general and far-reaching impossibility theorem in the literature on population ethics. The chapter shows that multidimensional consequentialists can reasonably maintain that the mere addition of people who have lives worth living is not always entirely right. To add what Parfit calls “extra people” is right with respect to one moral aspect (the size of the population) but wrong with respect to another (the average quality of life).

Correlates of Loneliness among Widows Bereaved in a Mining Disaster

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard M. Bahr ◽  
Carol D. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Low Income ◽  
The Other ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Community Life ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Level Of Involvement ◽  
Very High

From interviews with 44 widows of victims of the 1972 Sunshine Mine disaster (Idaho) and comparison samples of wives of survivors of the fire and of miners employed in other mines two types of loneliness were identified—one (personal loneliness) referring to whether respondents felt “very lonely and remote from other people” and the other (community underinvolvement) to whether they felt as involved in community life as they wanted to be. The widows manifested very high levels of personal loneliness but not of perceived community underinvolvement. An hypothesized link between loneliness and low income did not appear, but education was related to both kinds of loneliness. Participation in organizations seems related to low personal loneliness. Contacts with friends and relatives, belonging to a variety of voluntary organizations, having satisfying daily employment, and participating in religious organizations are related to satisfaction with level of involvement in community. Both types of loneliness are inversely related to high morale, happiness, and perceived high quality of life among widows. There may be many dimensions of loneliness as the present two types have different correlates; successful prescriptions for these often differ.

Quality-of-Life Measurement in Advanced Cancer: Assessing the Individual

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 3603-3611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dympna Waldron ◽  
Ciaran A. O'Boyle ◽  
Michael Kearney ◽  
Michael Moriarty ◽  
Desmond Carney
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Internal Validity ◽  
Semistructured Interview ◽  
Incurable Cancer ◽  
Life Measurement ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Very High

PURPOSE: Despite the increasing importance of assessing quality of life (QoL) in patients with advanced cancer, relatively little is known about individual patient's perceptions of the issues contributing to their QoL. The Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL) and the shorter SEIQoL–Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW) assess individualized QoL using a semistructured interview technique. Here we report findings from the first administration of the SEIQoL and SEIQoL-DW to patients with advanced incurable cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: QoL was assessed on a single occasion using the SEIQoL and SEIQoL-DW in 80 patients with advanced incurable cancer. RESULTS: All patients were able to complete the SEIQoL-DW, and 78% completed the SEIQoL. Of a possible score of 100, the median QoL global score was as follows: SEIQoL, 61 (range, 24 to 94); SEIQoL-DW, 60.5 (range, 6 to 95). Psychometric data for SEIQoL indicated very high levels of internal consistency (median r = .90) and internal validity (median R2 = 0.88). Patients' judgments of their QoL were unique to the individual. Family concerns were almost universally rated as more important than health, the difference being significant when measured using the SEIQoL-DW (P = .002). CONCLUSION: Patients with advanced incurable cancer were very good judges of their QoL, and many patients rated their QoL as good. Judgments were highly individual, with very high levels of consistency and validity. The primacy given to health in many QoL questionnaires may be questioned in this population. The implications of these findings are discussed with regard to clinical assessment and advance directives.

scholarly journals Health-Related Quality of Life of Elderly Women with Fall Experiences

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (15) ◽  
pp. 7804
Author(s):  
Jiyoung Song ◽  
Eunwon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Elderly Women ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Basic Data ◽  
Health Related Quality ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to describe the health-related quality of life of elderly women with experience in fall treatment as well as to prepare basic data for the development of interventions to improve the quality of life for this group. The study was based on raw data from the 2019 Korea Community Health Survey. Using the SPSS program, the characteristics of the subjects were tested by frequency, percentage, and chi-square test. To establish the impact of fall experience on the health-related quality of life of elderly women, the OR and 95% CI were calculated using multiple logistic regression analysis. Of the 4260 people surveyed, 44.7% of the elderly women said they had a high quality of life, whereas 55.3% of the elderly women said they had a low quality of life. A younger age was associated with a better-rated health-related quality of life. Those who lived in a city and had a high level of education tended to describe a high quality of life. The quality of life was considered high by those who exercised, but low by those who were obese or diabetic. The results of this study can lead to a better understanding of the experiences of elderly women who have experienced falls, and they can be used as basic data for the development of related health programs.

scholarly journals Determining the psychometric properties of a novel questionnaire to measure “preparedness for the future” (Prep FQ)

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daren K. Heyland ◽  
J. Paige Pope ◽  
Xuran Jiang ◽  
Andrew G. Day
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Well Being ◽  
High Quality ◽  
The Future ◽  
Quality Of Death ◽  
Test Retest Reliability

Abstract Background People are living longer than ever before. However, with living longer comes increased problems that negatively impact on quality of life and the quality of death. Tools are needed to help individuals assess whether they are practicing the best attitudes and behaviors that are associated with a future long life, high quality of life, high quality of death and a satisfying post-death legacy. The purpose of paper is to describe the process we used to develop a novel questionnaire (“Preparedness for the Future Questionnaire™ or Prep FQ”) and to define its psychometric properties. Methods Using a multi-step development procedure, items were generated, for the new questionnaire after which the psychometric properties were tested with a heterogeneous sample of 502 Canadians. Using an online polling panel, respondents were asked to complete demographic questions as well as the Prep-FQ, Global Rating of Life Satisfaction, the Keyes Psychological Well-Being scale and the Short-Form 12. Results The final version of the questionnaire contains 34 items in 8 distinct domains (“Medico-legal”, “Social”, “Psychological Well-being”, “Planning”, “Enrichment”, “Positive Health Behaviors”, “Negative Health Behaviors”, and “Late-life Planning”). We observed minimum missing data and good usage of all response options. The average overall Prep FQ score is 51.2 (SD = 13.3). The Cronbach alphas assessing internal reliability for the Prep FQ domains ranged from 0.33 to 0.88. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) used to assess the test–retest reliability had an overall score of 0.87. For the purposes of establishing construct validity, all the pre-specified relationships between Prep FQ and the other questionnaires were met. Conclusion Analyses of this novel measure offered support for its face validity, construct validity, test–retest reliability, and internal consistency. With the development of this useful and valid scale, future research can utilize this measure to engage people in the process of comprehensively assessing and improving their state of preparedness for the future, tracking their progress along the way. Ultimately, this program of research aims to improve the quality and quantity of peoples live by helping them ‘think ahead’ and ‘plan ahead’ on the aspects of their daily life that matter to their future.

scholarly journals Improving Accuracy in Studying the Interactions of Seismic Waves with Bottom Sediments

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 229
Author(s):  
Georgy Mitrofanov ◽  
Nikita Goreyavchev ◽  
Roman Kushnarev
Keyword(s):  
Bottom Sediments ◽  
Seismic Waves ◽  
Wide Frequency Range ◽  
Quality Of Data ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Relative Characteristic ◽  
Seabed Evolution ◽  
Marine Seismic ◽  
Very High

The emerging tasks of determining the features of bottom sediments, including the evolution of the seabed, require a significant improvement in the quality of data and methods for their processing. Marine seismic data has traditionally been perceived to be of high quality compared to land data. However, high quality is always a relative characteristic and is determined by the problem being solved. In a detailed study of complex processes, the interaction of waves with bottom sediments, as well as the processes of seabed evolution over short time intervals (not millions of years), we need very high accuracy of observations. If we also need significant volumes of research covering large areas, then a significant revision of questions about the quality of observations and methods of processing is required to improve the quality of data. The article provides an example of data obtained during high-precision marine surveys and containing a wide frequency range from hundreds of hertz to kilohertz. It is shown that these data, visually having a very high quality, have variations in wavelets at all analyzed frequencies. The corresponding variations reach tens of percent. The use of the method of factor decomposition in the spectral domain made it possible to significantly improve the quality of the data, reducing the variability of wavelets by several times.

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