David Benatar's asymmetry argument reframed the ethics of procreation. Essays exploring his position, the responses it provoked, and what survives the strongest objections.
Is it ethically defensible to bring a person into existence without their consent? This essay examines the consent problem as a central challenge to the ethics of procreation.
David Benatar posits that coming into existence is always a net harm due to a crucial asymmetry between pain and pleasure, a claim with deep ethical implications.
Emil Cioran's aphorisms offer a literary and deeply personal form of antinatalist witness, arguing that existence itself is the primary harm.
Pronatalism is not a natural or default human stance but a deeply embedded ideology. This essay unpacks the cultural, religious, and economic machinery that drives the unexamined imperative to procreate.
Derek Parfit's non-identity problem challenges the intuition that creating a person with a compromised life is morally wrong, raising profound questions for antinatalism and procreative ethics.
This essay explores the strongest counterarguments to antinatalism, from Pollyannaism to appeals to future good, and argues for their ultimate insufficiency.
Rising rates of mental illness are not mere chemical imbalances, but a rational response to the alienation inherent in the modern condition.
Does the existence of suffering challenge theological justifications for human creation? This essay explores the collision of procreative ethics and divine benevolence.
This essay defends the view that the reduction of suffering should be prioritized over the promotion of happiness, an ethical stance with profound implications.
To be born is to be brought into existence without consent. This essay examines whether this fundamental imposition can be ethically justified.