Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence is a 2006 book by South African philosopher David Benatar, in which he argues for antinatalism, the philosophical position that coming into existence is always a harm. David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not existed. Those who never exist cannot be deprived.
BENATAR, David. Better never to have been: the harm of coming to existence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have
David Benatar. Better Never To Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) ELIZABETH HARMAN Princeton University In this book, David Benatar argues that every person is severely harmed by being brought into existence, and that in bringing any person into existence one impermissibly harms that person. Better Never to Have Been argues for a number of related, highly provocative, views: (1) Coming into existence is always a serious harm. (2) It is always wrong to have children. (3) It is wrong not to abort fetuses at the earlier stages of gestation. (4) It would be better if, as a result of there being no new people, humanity became extinct. These views may sound unbelievable--but anyone who
He suggests, as I indicated earlier, that we understand the claim that somebody would have been better off not coming into existence as the assertion that that being's never existing would have been preferable. About the book In "Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence," philosopher David Benatar presents a profoundly unsettling yet thought-provoking argument that boldly challenges one of our most ingrained assumptions: that being born is inherently a good thing. With rigorous logic and compelling ethical considerations, Benatar posits that bringing new life into the world
Introduction According to David Benatar, it is "better never to have been" and it would be morally better if the human race was extinct. That is, coming into existence always causes serious harm to the individual, and therefore, procreating is always morally wrong (the antinatalist claim). Abstract Better Never to Have Been argues for a number of related, highly provocative, views: (1) Coming into existence is always a serious harm. (2) It is always wrong to have children. (3) It is wrong not to abort fetuses at the earlier stages of gestation. (4) It would be better if, as a result of there being no new people, humanity became
Get Deals and Low Prices On Better Never Have Been At Amazon. Choose From a Huge Collection Of Great Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry At Amazon. Better Never to Have Been challenges these assumptions. David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not existed. Those who never exist cannot be deprived.
