The Non-Identity Problem

The non-identity problem shows that an action can be morally wrong even though it harms no particular person: a 14-year-old having a child does not harm that child (whose life is still better than nothing), and a different child would exist if she waited, so we cannot ground the wrongness in harm to an individual—yet we still judge it a mistake, overturning the assumption that morality must be about harming particular individuals.