Anti Natalism Rejectionist Philosophy From Buddhism To Benatar

The last few decades seem to have begun what has been called 'the childless revolution'. In developed countries, increasingly people are choosing not to have children. The causes of this 'revolution' are many including the belief that to create a new life is to subject someone unnecessarily, and without their consent, to life's many sufferings including death. This belief and its underlying philosophy is known as anti-natalism. There has been a recent resurgence of this philosophy, with David Benatar's book Better Never To Have Been (2006) as a major catalyst. Anti-natalism can be seen as part of a broader philosophy, described here as Rejectionism, which finds existence -directly or indirectly, i.e. as procreation - as deeply problematic and unacceptable. The book traces the development of this philosophy from its ancient religious roots in Hinduism (Moksha) and Buddhism (Nirvana) to its most modern articulation by the South African philosopher David Benatar. It examines the contribution to rejectionist thought by Schopenhauer and von Hartmann in the 19th century and Zapffe, a little known Norwegian thinker, in the 20th century, and most recently by Benatar. Benatar and Zapffe represent this approach most clearly as anti-natalism. The book also devotes a chapter to the literary expression of rejectionist philosophy in the works of Samuel Beckett and J.P.Sartre. In sum, far from being an esoteric doctrine rejectionism has been a major presence in human history straddling all three major cultural forms - religious, philosophical and literary. The book argues that anti-natal philosophy and its practice owe a great deal to three major developments: secularization, liberalization of social attitudes, and technological advances (contraception). Anti-natal attitudes and practice should therefore be seen as a part of 'progress' in that these developments are widening our choice of lifestyles and attitudes to existence. In sum, The book argues that anti-natalism needs to be taken seriously and considered as a legitimate view of a modern, secular civilization. Secondly, the book seeks to situate current anti-natalist thought in its historical and philosophical perspective. Finally, it argues that in order to develop anti-natalism further it needs to be institutionalized as a form rational 'philosophy of life', and more attention needs to be paid to the problems and prospect of putting this philosophy into practice.

This collective monography deals with the history of antinatalism. It aims to supplement Ken Coates՚ monography Anti-Natalism: Rejectionist Philosophy from Buddhism to Benatar. Therefore, after rejecting David Benatars՚ analytical approach, it starts with the intellectual history of antinatalism in antiquity and the Middle Ages in general, with a focus on neglected tenets of the asymmetry and quality arguments in Aristotle's Eudemus and in early Christianity. Then it carries on with modern age up to the present, with a focus on the rarely identified precursors of the asymmetry argument, followed by analyses of some antinatalistic elements in Vladimir Solovyov, and of the almost unknown antinatalistic author bearing the pen name Kurnig. Finally, it returns to the contemporary antinatalism, this time focused on its implications in sexual ethics and in the ethics of suicide.

First published in paperback in 2008. Reprinted 2009, 2013.

Not a year goes by without the Pope or another Christian dignitary singing the praises of fecundity and the virtues of family, preferably numerous. However, the reading of the Gospels makes us discover a Christ fiercely hostile to the biological family and even more to reproduction. Among the few thinkers who have considered the issue, Kierkegaard will reach the conclusion that Christianity aimed at "blocking our species". In the wake of Christ, who remained childfree while urging us to become eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, the early Church fathers will also glorify perpetual virginity and disparage carnal fertility. Saint Augustine even wished that everyone would refrain from procreating so that the end of the world would be hastened! Would the natalism of contemporary Christian churches be the greatest deception of all time? In any case, it is an absolute betrayal, which, in this century of global overpopulation, is even more disastrous than that of Judas. The purpose of this essay will be to rediscover a truth carefully concealed: the original Christianity was indeed an antinatalism.About the author: Théophile de Giraud is a French-speaking Belgian writer born in 1968. He is one of the main contemporary advocates of antinatalism in the French language. In favour of the childfree cause, he organized three editions of a Non-Parents Day, which took place in Brussels and Paris between 2009 and 2011. Among other works, he has written an essay entitled: L'art de guillotiner les procréateurs: manifeste antinataliste (The Art of Guillotining Procreators: An Antinatalist Manifesto). This book was published in French in 2006 and is currently being translated into English.

Are our lives meaningful, or meaningless? Is our inevitable death a bad thing? Would immortality be an improvement? Would it be better, all things considered, to hasten our deaths by suicide? Many people ask these big questions -- and some people are plagued by them. Surprisingly, analytic philosophers have said relatively little about these important questions about the meaning of life. When they have tackled the big questions, they have tended, like popular writers, to offer comforting, optimistic answers. The Human Predicament invites readers to take a clear-eyed and unfettered view of the human condition. David Benatar here offers a substantial, but not unmitigated, pessimism about the central questions of human existence. He argues that while our lives can have some meaning, we are ultimately the insignificant beings that we fear we might be. He maintains that the quality of life, although less bad for some than for others, leaves much to be desired in even the best cases. Worse, death is generally not a solution; in fact, it exacerbates rather than mitigates our cosmic meaninglessness. While it can release us from suffering, it imposes another cost - annihilation. This state of affairs has nuanced implications for how we should think about many things, including immortality and suicide, and how we should think about the possibility of deeper meaning in our lives. Ultimately, this thoughtful, provocative, and deeply candid treatment of life's big questions will interest anyone who has contemplated why we are here, and what the answer means for how we should live.

Janaway presents a full commentary on Nietzsche's most studied work, 'On the Genealogy of Morality', and combines close reading of key passages with an exploration of Nietzsche's wider aims. The book will be essential reading for historians of moral philosophy.

This book offers a philosophical defence of nihilism. The authors argue that the concept of nihilism has been employed pejoratively by almost all philosophers and religious leaders to indicate a widespread cultural crisis of truth, meaning, or morals. Many religious believers think atheism leads to moral chaos (because it leads to nihilism), and atheists typically insist that we can make life meaningful through our own actions (thereby avoiding nihilism). In this way, both sides conflate the cosmic sense of meaning at stake with a social sense of meaning. This book charts a third course between extremist and alarmist views of nihilism. It casts doubt on the assumption that nihilism is something to fear, or a problem which human culture should overcome by way of seeking, discovering, or making meaning. In this way, the authors believe that a revised understanding of nihilism can help remove a significant barrier of misunderstanding between religious believers and atheists. A Defence of Nihilism will be of interest to scholars and students in philosophy, religion, and other disciplines who are interested in questions surrounding the meaning of life.