L'unico modo per garantire che una eventuale futura persona non soffra è far sì che non nasca e non diventi mai una persona reale, basandosi sul calcolo di costi (dolori) e benefici (piaceri). Meglio non mettere al mondo figli, per nessun motivo (soddisfazione personale, dei nonni, propagazione della specie, della famiglia, della nazione. Un tema affrontato da sempre (da Gilgamesh ad oggi), presente nella mente di molti di noi. Poi, per carità, qui siamo e vorremmo continuare ad essere, ma un rammarico su questo essere, sull'essere nati, ha il suo senso ed il suo spazio. ( )

needs more phenomenology. we don't live our lives all at once. for this reason, the balance-sheet method to calculating whether existence is a good or an ill doesn't work.

that said, there's almost no good reason to bring another human being into existence. on that point, he and I agree. ( )

This powerful indictment of natalism (the belief that having children is a good thing) goes through numerous arguments, most of them persuasive. Its central argument, that there is a profound asymmetry between suffering and pleasure which makes non-existence preferable to existence, has become the rallying point of anti-natalists since this book was written. More interesting than his argument, however, is his survey of other issues about anti-natalism including abortion, extinction and why it might justify having children even if natalism is in itself evil, the nature of desire, and other juicy philosophical topics.

Anyone who thinks they can defend natalism, or who has started to doubt natalism but does not have a grasp of the arguments, should read this book. The former should prepare to have their worldview changed irrevocably, the latter should feel much more prepared to answer the common objections and assert his position. ( )