The Oxford handbook of population ethics The Oxford Handbook of Population Ethics present up to date theoretical analyses of various problems associated with the moral standing of future people and animals in current decision making. Future people pose an especially hard problem for our current decision making since their number and their identities are not fixed but depend on the choices the present generation makes. Do we make the world better by creating more people with good lives What do we owe future generations in terms of justice How should burdens and benefits be shared across generations so that justice prevails These questions are philosophically difficult and important but also directly relevant to many practical decisions and policies. Climate change policy provides an example as the increasing global temperature will kill some people and prevent many others from ever existing. Many other policies also influence the size and make up of future populations both directly and indirectly for example those concerning family planning child support and prioritization in health care. If we are to adequately assess these policies we must be able to determine the value of differently sized populations. The handbook sheds light on the value of population change and the nature of our obligations to future generations. It brings together world leading philosophers political theorists and economists to introduce readers to some of the paradoxes of population ethics challenge some fundamental assumptions that may be taken for granted in the debate about the value of population change and apply these problems and assumptions to real world decisions.