Better Never To Have Been

250 Pages·2007·1.04 MB·English

BETTER NEVER TO HAVE BEEN
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BETTER NEVER
TO HAVE BEEN
TheHarmof ComingintoExistence
DAVID BENATAR
CLARENDONPRESS·OXFORD
1
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Tomyparents,
eventhoughtheybroughtmeintoexistence;
andtomybrothers,
eachofwhoseexistence,althoughaharmtohim,
isagreatbenefittotherestofus.
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Preface
Eachoneofuswasharmedbybeingbroughtintoexistence.That
harmisnotnegligible,becausethequalityofeventhebestlivesis
verybad—andconsiderablyworsethanmostpeoplerecognizeit
tobe. Althoughit is obviously toolate toprevent our own exist-
ence, it is not too late to prevent the existence of future possible
people. Creating new people is thus morally problematic. In this
bookIarguefortheseclaimsandshowwhytheusualresponsesto
them—incredulity,ifnotindignation—aredefective.
GiventhedeepresistancetotheviewsIshallbedefending,Ihave
noexpectationthatthisbookoritsargumentswillhaveanyimpact
on baby-making. Procreation will continue undeterred, causing a
vast amount of harm. I have written this book, then, not under
the illusion that it will make (much) difference to the number of
peopletherewillbebutratherfromtheopinionthatwhatIhave
tosayneedstobesaidwhetherornotitisaccepted.
Many readers will be inclined to dismiss my arguments and
will do so too hastily. When rejecting an unpopular view, it is
extraordinarily easy to be overly confident in the force of one’s
responses. This is partly because there is less felt need to justify
one’s viewswhenone isdefending an orthodoxy. It is alsopartly
because counter-responses from those critical of this orthodoxy,
giventheirrarity,arehardertoanticipate.
The argument I advance in this book has been enhanced as a
result of a number of engaging critical responses to earlier ver-
sions.AnonymousreviewersfortheAmericanPhilosophicalQuarterly
offeredworthychallenges,forcingmetoimprovetheearliestver-
sions.ThetwopapersIpublishedinthatjournalprovidedthebasis
forChapterofthisbookandIamgratefulforpermissiontouse
that earlier material. Those papers were considerably reworked
anddevelopedpartlyasaresultofmanycommentsreceivedinthe
interveningyearsandespeciallywhileIwaswritingthisbook.Iam
gratefultotheUniversityofCapeTownforasabbaticalsemester
in , during which four of the book’s chapters were written.
I presented material from various chapters in a number of fora,
including the Philosophy Department at the University of Cape
Town,RhodesUniversityinGrahamstown,SouthAfrica,theSev-
enthWorldCongressofBioethicsinSydney,Australia,andinthe
UnitedStatesattheJeanBeerBlumenfeldCenterforEthicsatGeor-
gia State University, the Center for Bioethics at the University of
Minnesota, and the Philosophy Department at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham. I am grateful for the lively discussion
ontheseoccasions.Fortheirhelpfulcommentsandsuggestions,I
shouldliketothank,amongothers,AndyAltman,DanBrock,Bengt
Bru¨lde,NickFotion,StephenNathanson,MartyPerlmutter,Robert
Segall,DavidWeberman,BernhardWeiss,andKitWellman.
Iam most grateful tothe two reviewers for Oxford University
Press,DavidWassermanandDavidBoonin.Theygaveextensive
commentsthathelpedmeanticipatethekindsofresponsescritical
readersofthepublishedworkcouldhave.Ihaveattemptedtoraise
and reply to these in revising the manuscript. I am sure that the
book is much better for having considered their objections, even
iftheyarenotconvincedbymyreplies.Iamacutelyaware,how-
ever,thatthereisalwaysroomforimprovement andIonlywish
thatIknewnow,ratherthanlater(ornever),whatimprovements
couldbemade.
Finally, I should like to thank my parents and brothers for all
theydoandforalltheyare.Thisbookisdedicatedtothem.
DB
CapeTown
8December2005
 ∼ Preface
Contents
. Introduction 
Whoissolucky? 
Anti-natalismandthepro-natalbias 
Outlineofthebook 
Areader’sguide 
. WhyComingintoExistenceIsAlwaysaHarm 
Cancomingintoexistenceeverbeaharm? 
Livesworthlivingandlivesnotworthliving 
Livesworthstartingandlivesworthcontinuing 
Whycomingintoexistenceisalwaysaharm 
Theasymmetryofpleasureandpain 
Comparingexistingwithneverexisting 
Otherasymmetries 
Againstnotregrettingone’sexistence 
. HowBadIsComingintoExistence? 
Whylife’squalityisnotthedifferencebetweenits
goodanditsbad 
Whyself-assessmentsofone’slife’squalityare
unreliable 
Threeviewsaboutthequalityoflife,andwhylife
goesbadlyonallofthem 
Hedonistictheories 
Desire-fulfilmenttheories 
Objectivelisttheories 
Concludingcommentsaboutthethreeviews 
Aworldofsuffering 