In this paper I analyse how procreative freedom poses a challenge for rule-consequentialism. First, I reconstruct the rule-consequentialist case for procreative freedom. Second, I argue that population scenarios resulting from very low fertility pose a problem for rule-consequentialism since such scenarios cannot secure population growth or even avoid human extinction in the long run. Third, I argue that population scenarios resulting from excessive procreation also pose a problem for rule-consequentialism since they are incompatible with the promotion of optimific consequences in various ways. Were the rule-consequentialist to avoid these types of scenarios, the challenge would consist in doing so while retaining the liberal approach to individual rights and freedoms that made rule-consequentialism an advantageous competitor against moral theories like act-consequentialism. These population scenarios raise more general questions about how rule-consequentialism ought to conceptualise the application of universal rules in the long-term, intergenerational context. This is an important place for inquiry given that rule-consequentialism is originally conceived as a forward-looking theory.

中文翻译：

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规则后果论、生育自由和后代

在这篇论文中，我分析了生育自由如何对规则结果主义提出挑战。首先，我重构了生育自由的规则后果论案例。其次，我认为极低生育率导致的人口情景给规则后果论带来了问题，因为从长远来看，这种情景无法确保人口增长甚至避免人类灭绝。第三，我认为过度生育导致的人口情景也给规则结果论带来了问题，因为它们与以各种方式促进最优结果不相容。规则后果论者是为了避免这些类型的场景，挑战在于这样做，同时保留对个人权利和自由的自由态度，这种态度使规则结果论成为与行为结果论等道德理论的有利竞争者。这些人口情景提出了更普遍的问题，即规则后果论应该如何在长期的代际背景下概念化普遍规则的应用。鉴于规则后果论最初被认为是一种前瞻性理论，这是一个重要的探究场所。