I somehow did not see this reply so am replying now, rather late in the day. — Bartricks
I'm not convinced of this statement, but that of course does not make it untrue. — boethius
What was the point in saying that? It is true. I'm in an epistemically special position to know its truth, by dint of being me and thereby knowing far more about why I do things than you do.
You don't seem to have bothered to have read the argument. — boethius
I did, it is just not very good.
Your reply is also not very good. You are just blithely assuming an individual subjectivist position on harm - which is an absurd position in its own right and is also clearly not a view assumed by anything I have argued.
It is prima facie wrong to do something to someone else that significantly affects them without their consent.
My opinion that that is the case is not what makes it the case. It is self-evident to the reason of most people that it is prima facie wrong to do something to someone else if that act significant affects them without their consent.
IF someone has the opinion that what I have just said is false, their opinion is almost certainly mistaken. Why? Not because I say so. But because there is plentiful evidence their opinion is false. Namely, the widely corroborated rational intuitions of virtually all people.
In syaing that it is 'prima facie' wrong I am not saying that it is always and everywhere wrong. There will be lots - lots, note - of exceptions.
Pointing out these exceptions - which is all you've done so far - is, then, to ignore my argument.
It is as if I have said "2 + 2 = 4" and your reply is "no, for 2+ 3 = 5". I have said that to significantly affect another without their prior consent is prima facie wrong. You have replied by pointing out that there are many cases in which it is morally permissible, even morally obligatory, to do something that significantly affects another without their prior consent.
Er, yes. I know. That's consistent with it being prima facie wrong.
The point is that in the exceptional cases, we can 'explain' why this kind of act is overall right by pointing to the fact that, say, had the act not been performed the affected partly would have been even worse off, or some such.
Yet that is not the case in procreative acts.
Thus your examples provide no evidence against my conclusion. Deal with it.