Anti-Natalism: Rejectionist Philosophy from Buddhism to Benatar

Ken Coates

Mar 2014 · First Edition Design Pub.

About this ebook

 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. 

Ratings and reviews

Stand out message from this is the sense of compassion for the human race by a desire to ameliorate suffering as the only endeavour worth pursuing for human kind. And this can only and absolutely be achieved in its extinction. As humans we were dealt a bad deal from the start for being consciously aware beings. This book is written in a clear and salient manner which speaks always to compassion and is as such a heartfelt read.

Absurd book with absurd reviews. The so-called "solution" is actually a problem that does nothing

Nice

About the author

The author is a social scientist. After receiving a Ph.D degree from the University of London he has been a university professor. This book is a result of his long-standing interest in issues of existence and existential philosophy.