Is it better never to have been born?

In Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence, Benatar quotes the Greek tragedian Sophocles (“Never to have been born is best / But if we must see the light, the next best / Is quickly returning whence we came”) and the text of Ecclesiastes (“So I have praised the dead that are already dead more than …

What is an example of Antinatalist?

An example of an anti-natalist policy, which encourages families to have fewer children, is the famous ‘one-child policy’ in China, introduced in 1978-1980. This was encouraged rather forcefully by the Chinese government, forcing women to have abortions if they already had a child.

Is pain worse than pleasure is good?

Many people suggest that the best experiences in life—love, beauty, discovery, and so on—make up for the bad ones. To this, Benatar replies that pain is worse than pleasure is good. Pain lasts longer: “There’s such a thing as chronic pain, but there’s no such thing as chronic pleasure,” he said.

When did Antinatalism begin?

2006
The word “antinatalism” was first used in the current meaning in 2006, when the two books that justify the universal negation of procreation were published: one by David Benatar and the other by Théophile de Giraud.

Is Antinatalism good or bad?

Antinatalism, or anti-natalism, is the ethical view that negatively values procreation. Antinatalists argue that humans should abstain from procreation because it is morally wrong (some also recognize the procreation of other sentient beings as problematic).

Does pain outweigh pleasure?

Pain builds pleasure Other work has shown that experiencing relief from pain not only increases our feelings of happiness but also reduces our feelings of sadness. Pain may not be a pleasurable experience itself, but it builds our pleasure in ways that pleasure alone simply cannot achieve.

Is the absence of pain Pleasure?

The Epicureans defined pleasure as the absence of pain (mental and physical), and hence pleasure can only increase until the point in which pain is absent. To achieve such a state, one has to experience kinetic pleasures, that is, a pleasure one has when want or pain is being removed.