DE Weekly: Benatar, the Asymmetry Argument, & Camus’s Rebel

Earlier this week, I came across a post on social media from a so-called “anti-natalist,” someone who believes that it is wrong to have children, and that we should not do so. Their reasons, they claim, are philosophical. “When you bring someone into this world,” this person wrote, “you are introducing them to a lifetime of pain and suffering.” The conclusion they draw from this is that it is morally wrong to procreate.

I wish this view of humanity was a one-off. Alas, that is not the case; there have been whole philosophical treatises written on the subject aiming to advance the anti-natalist view.