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How to reject Benatar's asymmetry argument
1Centre for Professional & Applied Ethics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Abstract:
In this article I reconsider David Benatar's primary argument for anti-natalism-the asymmetry argument-and outline a three-step process for rejecting it. I begin in Part 2 by reconstructing the asymmetry argument into three main premises. I then turn in Parts 3-5 to explain how each of these premises is in fact false. Finally, I conclude in Part 6 by considering the relationship between the asymmetry argument and the quality of life argument in Benatar's overall case for anti-natalism and argue that it is the latter argument that is actually doing the work. In this sense, the asymmetry argument is not only unsuccessful in generating Benatar's anti-natalist conclusion, it is also unnecessary as well.
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