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Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence
David Benatar
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Description for Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence
Paperback. Most people believe that they were either benefited or at least not harmed by being brought into existence. David Benatar presents a startling challenge to these assumptions. He argues that people systematically overestimate the quality of their life, and suffer quite serious harms by coming into existence. Num Pages: 256 pages, 13 tables. BIC Classification: HP. Category: (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 204 x 129 x 14. Weight in Grams: 304.
Most people believe that they were either benefited or at least not harmed by being brought into existence. Thus, if they ever do reflect on whether they should bring others into existence---rather than having children without even thinking about whether they should---they presume that they do them no harm. Better Never to Have Been challenges these assumptions. David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not ... Read more
Most people believe that they were either benefited or at least not harmed by being brought into existence. Thus, if they ever do reflect on whether they should bring others into existence---rather than having children without even thinking about whether they should---they presume that they do them no harm. Better Never to Have Been challenges these assumptions. David Benatar argues that coming into existence is always a serious harm. Although the good things in one's life make one's life go better than it otherwise would have gone, one could not have been deprived by their absence if one had not ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
Oxford University Press United Kingdom
Number of pages
256
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2008
Condition
New
Number of Pages
256
Place of Publication
Oxford, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780199549269
SKU
V9780199549269
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-6
About David Benatar
David Benatar is currently Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He received his Ph.D. from that university, did post-doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1993 to 1995, and was Visiting Assistant Professor at the College of Charleston, South Carolina, from 1995 until 1997. His teaching and research interests are in ... Read more
Reviews for Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence
This isn't a new book, but it is generating increasing discussion in university departments and elsewhere: hence this review... If you enjoy an ethical challenge, then read this book.
Malcolm Torry, Triple Helix
For those who admire really careful and imaginative argumentation, and are interested in either issues of life and death, or the foundations of morality, it's ... Read more
Malcolm Torry, Triple Helix
For those who admire really careful and imaginative argumentation, and are interested in either issues of life and death, or the foundations of morality, it's ... Read more