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While procreation is ubiquitous, attention to the ethical issues involved in creating children is relatively rare. The authors of Debating Procreation take opposing views on this important question.
List of contents
- Introduction
- By David Benatar and David Wasserman
- Part One
- Anti-Natalism
- By David Benatar
- 1. Introducing Anti-Natalism
- 2. The Asymmetry Argument
- 3. The Quality of Life Argument
- 4. The Misanthropic Argument
- 5. Contra Procreation
- Part Two
- Pro-Natalism
- By David Wasserman
- 6. Better to Have Lived and Lost?
- 7 Against Anti-Natalism
- 8. The Good of the Future Child and the Parent-Child Relationship as Goals of Procreation
- 9. Impersonal Constraints on Procreation
- 10. Alternatives to Impersonal Approaches: Birthrights and Role-Based Duties
About the author
David Benatar is Professor and Head of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is the author of Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence (Oxford), and The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys (Wiley-Blackwell).
David Wasserman works at the Center for Bioethics at Yeshiva University and is a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Bioethics of the National Institutes of Health. He has written extensively on ethical issues in reproduction, disability, genetics, biotechnology, and neuroscience.
Summary
While procreation is ubiquitous, attention to the ethical issues involved in creating children is relatively rare. The authors of Debating Procreation take opposing views on this important question.
Additional text
Its authors, David Benatar and David Wasserman, are not only very capable philosophers, but also extremely gifted writers. The result is a highly engaging and provocative book.
