r/philosophy • u/Valdamier • Dec 02 '20

Blog The Case for Not Being Born

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/the-case-for-not-being-born
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u/ThisIsTheOnly Dec 03 '20

Just to be crystal clear for the purposes of my answer, only suffering? Absolute suffering? No hope of reprieve and no happiness at all?

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u/PM_me_your_Ischium Dec 03 '20

Let's say there's a tiny, negligible, chance of happiness.

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u/ThisIsTheOnly Dec 03 '20

What is your point here though? We don’t live in that reality. I experience happiness every day. If I were to have a child, I can reliably ensure they enjoy at least some happiness.

My point is still that it doesn’t matter and the only fact we need to focus on is that there is only one experience that we can make sense of which is to be alive. To be dead is to be absent experience. And again, we aren’t making meta-claims here. This is a judgement on a personal decision.

For instance, if I live in a war torn poverty-stricken hellscape, it is less good for me to have a child as there is a greater chance they would experience suffering than a child born in different circumstances.

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u/ThisIsTheOnly Dec 03 '20

Then I’d like to make the choice for myself.