Policy choices determine which future individuals come into existence at all.

Evidence

The nonidentity problem suggests not merely that future individuals’ preferences shift as a result of policy choices, but that their very existence is contingent on those choices. Different sets of individuals, in other words, come into existence depending on how we decide. Under such circumstances, we cannot say that par tic u lar individuals in the future will be made better or worse off by a policy, only that they will be made. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere, 452

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Parfit’s nonidentity problem: contingent existence defeats better/worse comparisons for particular persons.
• XREF: connects to: Projects of present preferences onto future generations fail because future contexts will differ radically. — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere: Environmental…, 446; The refusal to choose is itself a choice. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 26

Broader Connections

• The refusal to choose is itself a choice. #qualifies (0.70) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism, 26