Nearly everyone is led to question the goodness of their existence at some point in their life. Whether this is due to an accumulation of personal set-backs, an event badly affecting a friend or family member, or simply due to nightly news reports of widespread tragedy, suffering, and war throughout the world, such things can make us question the goodness of being born at all. Is existence, all in all, really as good as we’re often inclined to believe? Or is the peaceful state of non-existence not getting the endorsement it deserves?
One who affirms the latter position is the South African philosopher David Benatar. He is an advocate of antinatalism, the position that procreation is morally wrong due to the inherent suffering and harm with which people are afflicted upon being born into this world. Antinatalists believe the human race should stop reproducing.
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Denne historien er fra April/May 2022-utgaven av Philosophy Now.
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The Two Dennises
Hannah Mortimer observes a close encounter of the same kind.
Heraclitus (c.500 BC)
Harry Keith lets flow a stream of ideas about permanence and change.
Does the Cosmos Have a Purpose?
Raymond Tallis argues intently against universal intention.
Is Driving Fossil-Fuelled Cars Immoral?
Rufus Duits asks when we can justify driving our carbon contributors.
Abelard & Carneades Yes & No
Frank Breslin says 'yes and no' to presenting both sides of an argument.
Frankl & Sartre in Search of Meaning
Georgia Arkell compares logotherapy and atheistic existentialism.
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray, now ninety-two years old, was, among many other things, one of the most impactful feminists of the 1970s liberation movements - before she was marginalised, then ostracised, from the francophone intellectual sphere.
Significance
Ruben David Azevedo tells us why, in a limitless universe, we’re not insignificant.
The Present Is Not All There Is To Happiness
Rob Glacier says don’t just live in the now.
Philosophers Exploring The Good Life
Jim Mepham quests with philosophers to discover what makes a life good.
