Careful, long-form thinking on antinatalism, the asymmetry argument, philosophical pessimism, and the ethics of bringing new life into the world. We read Schopenhauer and Benatar alongside Buddhist and Stoic traditions — not as self-help, but as serious attempts to make sense of suffering, consent, and what it means to exist.
To be born is a calamity. We explore Emil Cioran's radical pessimism and the literary expression of antinatalism in his aphoristic work, "The Trouble with Being Born."
A philosophical examination of the foremost counterarguments to antinatalism, from Pollyannaism to future-good, and a reasoned refutation of each.
While Camus and Sartre sought meaning in absurdity, their foundational insights into the anguish and contingency of existence unintentionally bolster the antinatalist argument against procreation.
David Benatar's asymmetry argument posits a fundamental imbalance between pain and pleasure, leading to the startling conclusion that coming into existence is always a net harm. This essay dissects his core claims.
Emil Cioran's aphorisms, particularly in "The Trouble with Being Born," offer a literary and philosophical witness to the core tenets of antinatalism, arguing that birth itself is the primary catastrophe.
Antinatalism, the view that procreation is morally wrong, faces perennial objections. A rigorous analysis of these counterarguments reveals their ultimate inadequacy.
To be is to be condemned to meaninglessness. An existentialist reading of the ethics of birth, from Sartre to Cioran.
Emil Cioran's aphorisms are not a formal argument for antinatalism but a profound literary witness to the trouble with being born, viewing existence itself as a fundamental imposition and a calamity.
This essay explores the core arguments for antinatalism, addresses its strongest objections, and argues that they ultimately fail to refute the position.
While existentialists like Camus and Sartre championed creating meaning in a meaningless world, their core premises about absurdity and freedom logically support an antinatalist conclusion.