Up@dawn 2.0 (blogger)

Delight Springs

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

For anti-natalists


The Case for Not Being Born
The anti-natalist philosopher David Benatar argues that it would be better if no one had children ever again.

David Benatar may be the world’s most pessimistic philosopher. An “anti-natalist,” he believes that life is so bad, so painful, that human beings should stop having children for reasons of compassion. “While good people go to great lengths to spare their children from suffering, few of them seem to notice that the one (and only) guaranteed way to prevent all the suffering of their children is not to bring those children into existence in the first place,” he writes, in a 2006 book called “Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence.” In Benatar’s view, reproducing is intrinsically cruel and irresponsible—not just because a horrible fate can befall anyone, but because life itself is “permeated by badness.” In part for this reason, he thinks that the world would be a better place if sentient life disappeared altogether... (Joshua Rothman, continues)

8 comments:

  1. While I see the point that Oliver makes, with the world being a tragic place full of suffering and pain, I counteract this argument with the joys of life. There are people who value having kids and find the most indescribable and important joy by having them, and I feel that those feelings are just as important. I like the idea of having kids to spite the fact that the world isn't perfect, in addition to the idea that those kids could very well change some bad parts of our world. I believe humans must try their best to continue despite the unlucky circumstances.

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  2. To be fairly blunt, Mr. Benatar seems incredibly depressed and in need of therapy. Although life can be hard at times that does not mean that the best way to handle the hard times is to stop living. It seems like the harder times people go through, the more joyful and thankful they become once they reach the other side and the smoke clears. If anything the best way for the world to get better, is to raise up our children to be kind and loving and thoughtful, and thankful for the blessing that they do have. There are thousands of poverty stricken communities all over the world, and yet they seem happy and thankful, yet here in American where we have everything we could ever desire at the snap of our fingers, have grown miserable and depressed. I believe it is because they are happy and thankful for all the small gifts in life and have a better outlook than most people here in America do.

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    1. You're right. Why not to try to fix the problem instead of diverting to the nuclear option? And I agree, happiness isn't materialistic, and America hasn't caught on to that.

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    2. CoPhil... .9 class
      Sorry forgot to add that to my post

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  3. I have heard anti-natalistic arguments, but the term itself is new to me. Personally I don't agree with a view so aggressive but it's interesting to see that people take nihilism so far to assert that the human race should end.

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  4. While the world can be a very scary place, and by no means easy in any way, it is also very beautiful. It's about finding happiness in doing things you love and being around the people you love. To think we should just stop having kids altogether is based off Benatar's own life experiences. The world isn't perfect, life will never be perfect, but it's a life worth living.

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  5. There is logic to both sides of this argument, but I do not agree with the fact of not having kids. Reason being is because you should want to give another human being the same chance that you were given.

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