David Benatar

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David Benatar is a professor of philosophy and the head of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa.[1] He is known for his advocacy of antinatalism in his book Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence, in which he argues that coming into existence is a serious harm, regardless of the feelings of the existing being once brought into existence, and that, as a consequence, it is always morally wrong to create more sentient beings.[2] Benatar is the author of a series widely cited papers in medical ethics, including "Between Prophylaxis and Child Abuse" (The American Journal of Bioethics) and "A Pain in the Fetus: Toward Ending Confusion about Fetal Pain" (Bioethics).[3][4] His work has been published in prestigious academic journals including Ethics, Journal of Applied Philosophy, Social Theory and Practice, American Philosophical Quarterly, QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Journal of Law and Religion and the British Medical Journal.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Benatar, David (2006). Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199296421. 

[edit] As editor

  • Cutting to the core : exploring the ethics of contested surgeries (2006)
  • Ethics for everyday (2002)
  • Life, death & meaning : key philosophical readings on the big questions (2004)

[edit] References

  1. ^ staff.htm
  2. ^ Steyn, Mark. "Children? Not if you love the planet", Orange County Register, Friday, December 14, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-29. 
  3. ^ Benatar: Between Prophylaxis and Child Abuse - Google Scholar. Google Scholar. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
  4. ^ Benatar: A Pain in the Fetus: Toward Ending Confusion about Fetal Pain - Google Scholar. Google Scholar. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.


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