台灣生育率全球倒數第一，年輕人為何不生？反出生哲學曾風行古希臘、古印度！？叔本華嚮往佛教，提倡人類絕育？尼采為何肯定出生？貝納塔的誕生傷害論！ 書來面對EP47《不要出生，是不是比較好？》#反出生主義

Summary

本视频深入探讨了反出生主义哲学，从古希腊的俄狄浦斯神话、《传道书》、佛教的轮回观念，到施openhauer的意志哲学和Benatar的出生伤害理论，再到尼采的永恒回归和命运之爱，展现了两千年来哲学家们对生命意义的追问。视频指出，随着社会问题的增多，人们开始思考生育是否对下一代造成伤害，反出生主义思想再次成为社会讨论的焦点。

Takeaways

• 🌏 2024年台湾的生育率排名世界最低，每位台湾女性平均生育1.11个孩子，这一数字甚至低于日本，接近韩国。
• 📚 近年来，越来越多的年轻人选择不结婚、不生孩子，这种趋势在古代就有所体现。
• 📖 书籍《Isn’t it better not to be born?》探讨了近年来非常流行的“反生育”哲学。
• 🎓 书中作者森冈正宏是早稻田大学的哲学家，提出了“反出生主义”的概念，即认为未出生的人比出生的人更好。
• 🏛️ 古希腊时期就存在反出生的思想，如俄狄浦斯神话中的命运悲剧，以及《传道书》中对未出生者的赞美。
• 🌏 反出生思想在中东的诺斯替派、古印度的《奥义书》以及佛教中都有体现，认为生命充满痛苦，超越轮回是至高境界。
• 📚 佛教认为，通过修行可以消除痛苦，达到涅槃，反对自杀，提倡平和地等待死亡的到来。
• 📖 叔本华的哲学吸收了古印度和佛教的思想，认为生命的本质是痛苦，主张通过无欲达到解脱。
• 🤔 当代哲学家大卫·贝纳塔提出的“出生伤害理论”认为，出生本身就是一种伤害，因为生命不可避免地伴随着痛苦。
• 🧐 尼采的哲学是对叔本华的反生育思想的批评，提出了“命运之爱”和“永恒回归”的概念，鼓励人们接受并肯定生活的所有方面。

Q & A

2024年台湾的生育率在全球排名如何？

2024年台湾的生育率排名世界最后，每位台湾女性平均生育1.11个孩子。

什么是反出生主义（anti-natalism）？

反出生主义是一种哲学观点，认为与未出生的人相比，出生的人可能会过得更糟，认为出生在道德上是错误的。

古希腊神话中俄狄浦斯的故事如何体现了反出生思想？

俄狄浦斯王的故事中，俄狄浦斯在意识到自己无意中实现了弑父娶母的预言后，自刺双目，表达了对出生的悲哀，这反映了古希腊时期反出生的思想。

《传道书》中关于出生和死亡的观点是什么？

《传道书》认为，已经死去的人比活着的人更值得称赞，而那些从未出生的人则比前两者都要强，因为未出生的人不需要经历生命的无意义和时间的浪费。

佛教中的反出生思想是如何体现的？

佛教认为生命充满了痛苦，死后会再次轮回经历痛苦，因此最好的选择是超越轮回，不再出生。这需要通过日常修行来消除痛苦，包括观察引起痛苦的原因，如欲望和对身体的执着。

施openhauer的反出生哲学核心观点是什么？

施openhauer认为生命的本质是痛苦，因为所有生命最终都会死亡，而生命通过生育来逃避死亡。他认为人类应该通过认知能力达到无欲无求的状态，从而摆脱世界的痛苦，获得自由和平静。

David Benatar的出生伤害理论是什么？

David Benatar的出生伤害理论认为，出生本身就是一种伤害，因为生命必然伴随着痛苦，而未出生则不会有痛苦。他认为，如果生命注定要遭受痛苦，那么不将生命带入世界是一种道德上的选择。

尼采的永恒回归思想如何与反出生主义相对立？

尼采的永恒回归思想认为，如果宇宙中的一切都会无限重复，那么我们应该热爱生活，包括生活中的痛苦和快乐。他提倡命运之爱，即接受生活中的一切，包括痛苦，因为这些都是命运的一部分。这与反出生主义者认为生命充满痛苦、不值得经历的观点形成鲜明对比。

为什么说反出生主义在现代社会中再次被讨论反映了社会的痛苦？

反出生主义在现代社会中的讨论反映了人们对于生育下一代的道德考量，特别是在社会环境充满挑战和痛苦的情况下，人们开始思考是否应该将新生命带入这样的世界。

根据脚本内容，为什么说不结婚或不生孩子可能是更道德的选择？

脚本中提到，如果社会环境使得人们难以生存，那么不结婚或不生孩子可能是为了避免将下一代带入一个充满挑战和痛苦的世界，从而被认为是一种更道德的选择。

Outlines

00:00

🌏 台湾生育率全球最低

2024年的统计调查显示，台湾的生育率排名世界最低，每位台湾女性平均生育1.11个孩子，这一数字甚至低于日本，接近韩国。这一现象背后，越来越多的年轻人选择不结婚或不生育。古代以来，不生育的趋势就已存在，如古希腊神话中的俄狄浦斯，他出生后父亲因预言而企图杀害他，最终俄狄浦斯无意中杀死了父亲并娶了母亲。得知真相后，俄狄浦斯自刺双目，表达了对出生的遗憾。这种“不出生更好”的思想在古希腊广泛流传，影响了包括《传道书》在内的中东地区。《传道书》中提到，未出生的人比已死的人更好，因为他们不必经历生命的虚无和辛劳。这种思想也影响了犹太教的形成，它为人们提供了生活的意义，对抗了当时的不生育思潮。

05:01

🧘‍♂️ 佛教与不生思想

佛教中的不生思想认为，生命充满了痛苦，死后的轮回意味着再次经历痛苦，因此最好的选择是超越轮回，不再出生。佛教教导人们通过日常修行消除痛苦，观察痛苦的根源，如未满足的欲望和身体的腐败。佛教进一步主张，不要陷入爱情，因为爱情会带来分离的痛苦。成为僧侣，放弃家庭和生育，是消除自我执着和欲望的过程，也是达到涅槃的唯一途径。尽管佛教倡导不执着于生命，但并不支持自杀，因为自杀是对死亡的执着，违反了教义。佛教认为，通过平和的修行，等待死亡的来临，是一种佛教状态，不是悲观或逃避，而是一种深刻的快乐。

10:01

📚 当代哲学家的不生思想

当代哲学家大卫·贝纳塔提出了“出生伤害理论”，认为出生本身就是一种伤害，无论个体的主观感受如何。贝纳塔认为，如果一个人从未出生，他不会经历任何痛苦，尽管也不会体验到快乐，但这并非坏事。相反，出生带来的痛苦是确定的坏事。贝纳塔进一步主张，所有人类都应该绝育，人类灭绝将对人类更好。他的观点基于对痛苦的深刻关怀，认为每次新生命的诞生都是地球上又多了一个感受痛苦的生物。贝纳塔甚至提倡，为了彻底消除痛苦，不仅人类，动物也应该绝育，并且需要发明监测系统，及时消灭任何可能进化出痛苦感知能力的物种。

15:03

🌱 尼采的生命肯定哲学

尼采的哲学是对生命肯定的思考，他批评了施openhauer的悲观主义和贝纳塔的不生思想。尼采认为，人类出生是“生成的无辜”，宇宙总是在创造，生命会不断繁衍下一代。他提出了“永恒回归”的思想实验，认为宇宙中的物质和能量有限，时间无限，因此宇宙中的一切事件最终都会重复发生。这意味着现在发生的一切在过去的宇宙中已经发生过无数次。尼采认为，这种重复不会使生活失去独特性，反而会使其更加耀眼，因为人们在行动时会思考：如果这种生活无限次重复，我是否愿意？这样的思考会使人们选择最有意义的行动。尼采进一步提出“命运之爱”的概念，即无论生活多么痛苦，我们都应该爱这个世界，渴望这个世界无数次地重复。这种思想是对生命和命运的肯定，而不是逃避现实。

20:03

🤔 生育与否的哲学辩论

视频总结了过去两千年来的不生思想，从古希腊的俄狄浦斯、旧约中的传道书、古印度的佛陀、施openhauer的意志哲学、贝纳塔的出生伤害理论，到尼采的永恒回归和命运之爱。哲学家们一直在寻找生命的意义，试图回答生育与否的问题。尽管哲学家们至今没有最终答案，但随着社会中痛苦的增加，不生思想再次被讨论，反映了人们对生育下一代可能带来的伤害的担忧。只要社会让人们感到难以生存，不生思想就不会消失。

Keywords

💡生育率

生育率指的是每个女性一生中平均生育的孩子数量。在视频中，提到台湾的生育率在2024年排名世界最低，仅为1.11，这个数据远低于维持人口稳定所需的2.1。视频中通过生育率这一关键词，引出了对现代社会中人们选择不结婚、不生育现象的讨论，以及对“反生育主义”哲学的探讨。

💡反生育主义

反生育主义是一种哲学观点，主张认为不出生比出生更好，认为将一个人带到世界上在道德上是错误的。视频中提到，反生育主义在近年来变得非常流行，并且通过引用哲学家的观点和古代神话故事来探讨这一概念，如俄狄浦斯神话中的命运悲剧，以及《传道书》中关于生命无意义的论述。

💡佛教

佛教在视频中被提及，是因为它有着与反生育主义相关的教义。佛教认为生命充满了痛苦，通过修行可以达到涅槃，从而超越轮回，不再出生。视频中通过佛教的观点来说明，通过修行和对欲望的消除，人们可以达到不再轮回的境界，这与反生育主义的某些理念相呼应。

💡叔本华

叔本华是视频中介绍的一位重要哲学家，他提出了“生命意志”的概念，并认为生命的本质是痛苦。叔本华的哲学思想对后来的反生育主义哲学家产生了深远影响。视频中提到，叔本华认为人应该通过认知能力达到“无意志”的状态，从而摆脱世间的痛苦，这种观点与反生育主义的某些理念相契合。

💡大卫·贝纳塔

大卫·贝纳塔是当代反生育主义哲学家，他提出了“出生伤害理论”，认为出生本身就是一种伤害。视频中通过贝纳塔的理论来探讨生育的道德问题，即在充满痛苦的世界中，将新生命带到世界上是否是一种不道德的行为。贝纳塔的观点挑战了传统的生育观念，引发了关于生育权利和道德责任的讨论。

💡尼采

尼采是视频中提到的另一位哲学家，他的思想与反生育主义形成鲜明对比。尼采提出了“永恒回归”和“命运之爱”的概念，认为人应该肯定生命，包括生命中的痛苦和快乐。视频中通过尼采的哲学来反驳反生育主义的观点，强调即使生命充满了苦难，我们也应该热爱生命，接受命运的安排。

💡痛苦

痛苦是视频中反复出现的主题，许多反生育主义哲学家认为生命充满了无法避免的痛苦，因此认为出生是一种伤害。视频中通过不同哲学家的观点来探讨痛苦的意义，以及如何面对生命中的痛苦。痛苦不仅是一个哲学议题，也是人们在考虑生育问题时必须面对的现实问题。

💡快乐

与痛苦相对，快乐是生命中的另一面，也是哲学家们探讨的议题。在视频中，尼采认为即使生命中有痛苦，但快乐的存在使得生命值得肯定。快乐是人们选择生育和继续生活的动力之一，也是反生育主义者需要面对的问题，即生命中的快乐是否足以抵消痛苦。

💡道德责任

道德责任在视频中被提及，特别是在讨论生育问题时。反生育主义者认为，将新生命带到一个充满痛苦的世界中，可能是一种不道德的行为。而支持生育的哲学家则认为，生育是人的自然权利，不应受到道德责任的质疑。视频中通过不同哲学家的观点来探讨生育的道德责任问题。

💡生命的意义

生命的意义是视频中的核心议题，哲学家们试图通过他们的理论来回答生命是否有意义，以及如何面对生命中的痛苦和快乐。反生育主义者倾向于认为生命本身充满了痛苦，而支持生育的哲学家则认为生命的意义在于肯定和接受生命的全部，包括痛苦和快乐。

Highlights

2024年统计调查显示，台湾的生育率排名世界最低。

台湾每位女性在2024年的生育率仅为1.11人。

台湾的低生育率甚至超过了日本，接近韩国。

越来越多的年轻人选择不结婚，不生孩子。

《不出生不是更好吗？》一书讨论了近年来流行的“反生育”哲学。

书中提到，古希腊时期就存在反出生的思想趋势。

《传道书》中提到，未出生的人比已出生的人更值得称赞。

犹太教的出现是对当时盛行的反出生趋势的一种回应。

公元2世纪，中东出现了认为出生是个错误的“诺斯替主义”。

佛教的反出生思想认为，生命充满了痛苦。

佛教倡导通过日常修行消除痛苦，以达到涅槃。

佛教不主张自杀，而是倡导平和修行，等待死亡的到来。

西方反出生主义者如叔本华认为，生命本质上是痛苦的。

叔本华提出，人类应该通过认知能力达到“无意志”的状态。

大卫·贝纳塔的“出生伤害理论”认为，出生在这个世界上总会带来伤害。

贝纳塔主张人类应该绝育，人类灭绝对人类来说更好。

尼采的哲学是对叔本华的批评，主张肯定生命。

尼采提出“永恒回归”的思想实验，认为我们应该肯定现在的生活。

尼采的“命运之爱”是对生活的肯定，即使生活中有许多痛苦。

Transcripts

2024 Statistical Survey

Taiwan’s fertility rate ranks last in the world

Fertility rate for every Taiwanese woman in 2024

Taiwan has 1.11 people

Taiwan’s fertility rate is so low

It can be said that it surpasses Japan and catches up with South Korea.

Not only the Asian crane tail

In the world, we are also here to accompany you

More and more young people are not getting married and having children.

In fact, the trend of not having children has been around since ancient times.

The book I’m going to face today is “Isn’t it better not to be born?” 》

Let’s talk about the “anti-natalism” philosophy that has been very popular in recent years.

The author of this book, Masahiro Morioka, is a philosopher at Waseda University

In today’s video we will introduce

Anti-birth versus birth-affirming philosophies

First, let’s define what anti-natalism is

This refers to: comparing a person who was born in the world with someone who was not born.

Think it would be better not to have been born

It is ethically wrong to be born

We generally think

Ancient people usually liked to have children when they had nothing to do.

In ancient times, the idea of ​​having many children and grandchildren was held

But in fact, as early as ancient Greece, there was an anti-birth trend of thought.

In the myth of Oedipus

As soon as Oedipus was born, his father received an oracle that said this son would kill his father and marry his mother.

So the father ordered his slaves to kill Oedipus

But the slave saved his life

Send him to another country as an adopted son

When Oedipus grows up

He actually killed his father without knowing it

Finally, he returned to China and married his mother

After Oedipus learned that the prophecy came true,

Blind your own eyes

Lamenting why he was born

At this time, the chorus behind him sang his mood:

The best thing in the world is not to be born

And those who have been born into the world

The best option is to die quickly

This idea that it would be better not to be born

In fact, it was widely spread in ancient Greece

Japanese biblical scholar Masao Sekine believes that

This has even spread to the Middle East

Ecclesiastes, which influenced the Old Testament

The Book of Ecclesiastes mentions:

“I praise him who is long dead more than he who is alive.

And those who have never been born are stronger than the first two. ” (4:2)

Because people who have never come to the world

No need to experience the meaninglessness of life

No need to waste time walking this way

So Ecclesiastes says:

“A stillborn baby will enjoy more rest than a person who lives to a hundred years” (6:3-5)

If it wasn't a stillbirth,

But what about the people who were successfully born?

If these people want to get rid of the meaninglessness of life,

You must believe in God

So the emergence of Judaism

In fact, it can be seen as a response to the anti-birth trend that was prevalent at the time.

Because anti-birth ideas are so popular

Everyone who is alive feels world-weary

The emergence of Judaism provides people with a reason to live

Make people feel that life has sacred meaning

Anti-birtherism continued to influence the 2nd century AD

A sect called "Gnosticism" emerged in the Middle East

Believes that people are misled and fall into this sinful world

So birth was a mistake

After death, people will return to a good world

And in the East

Same period as ancient Greek philosophy

Anti-birth ideas also emerged

In the sixth century BC, ancient India recorded in the "Upanishads"

People who know reincarnation have the opportunity to enter the Brahma world after death

Can transcend reincarnation and never be born again

But those who don’t believe in reincarnation

Will be metabolized by nature after death

Become whole grains

If these grains are eaten by men,

will turn into semen

After fertilization, a person will be reincarnated into the world

This idea of ​​reincarnation later influenced Buddha

Developed Buddhist anti-natalism

Think life is full of pain

After death, he will be reincarnated into the world

experience pain again

can never get rid of

The best thing people can do

It’s transcending reincarnation

Don't come to this world again

This requires daily practice to eliminate pain

First, we need to observe what is causing the pain.

Buddhism believes that suffering comes from unfulfilled desires

No matter how good life is

Eventually they will all grow old and die.

Because the human body is subject to corruption

The body is like a stinky skin

Birth, aging, illness and death are the prototypes of human suffering experience

Another source of suffering is that everything changes rapidly

All good things must fade away

But people will cling to the good things of the past

For example, you think your lover has changed

Not like before

But actually

There is no eternal self

Buddhism even further advocates

Don't fall in love with anyone

Because when you have a lover

You will suffer when you can’t see your lover

And the deeper the love

The more painful it is when parting

People who have children will have worries in this world

Therefore, the Dhammapada says: "Without love and hatred, there is no bondage."

But how is it possible not to love someone?

This problem can be solved by becoming a monk

So give up the family and deny having children

It is the process of eliminating self-grasping and eliminating desires.

This is the only way to reach nirvana

Although Buddhism advocates not being attached to life,

But I don’t support suicide

Because suicide is still the attachment to death

And it is an act of active killing.

Violated Doctrine

Buddhism advocates peaceful practice

waiting for death to come

It is a Buddhist state

And it's not melancholy or escapism

On the contrary, it is a deep joy

For example, in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra

It records the scene before the death of Buddha when he was 80 years old.

Buddha said that everything he saw was filled with joy

Joy also means lovely in the original Pali text.

So the anti-birth attitude of Buddhism is

No attachment to the world, just looking at the world calmly

I think the world is really cute

There is an important difference between Buddhism and Western anti-natalism

Anti-birthism in the West says I wish I had never been born

I sigh because I have been born

It means that this wish will never come true

But Buddhism says I wish I wasn’t born

This wish is possible

Because Buddhism has the concept of afterlife

There is a spiritual system to practice anti-birth

As long as you practice according to Buddhism, you can transcend reincarnation

So denying birth is not denying this life

but to deny future births

This leads to an interesting conclusion

To be able to deny birth

We must first affirm the birth

Because Buddhism believes

Only life reincarnated into the human world

Only then can we have the opportunity to practice and achieve Nirvana

If you are reborn in hell

There is no such opportunity

So I can come to the human world

It's actually a very lucky thing

As long as you seize the opportunity to practice well

Maybe you don’t have to suffer reincarnation again

in western thought

You were either definitely born

Either deny birth

These two positions are opposite

But in Buddhism

These two opposing ideas can be tolerated together

Reviewing the Anti-birth Thoughts in Ancient East and West

we will find

"I wish I had never been born" is actually a sigh that everyone, regardless of high or low, will have.

It’s not just the poor and the losers who object to birth

Like Oedipus, the author of the Bible, Gautama Buddha

These people are ancient philosophers and royal families

Even these people would be against birth

Representing that anti-natalism is not just the sigh of the people at the bottom

This completes the introduction of anti-birth thoughts in ancient times in the East and West

Next we will introduce

Anti-birth philosopher who blended Eastern and Western thought: Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer absorbed the ideas of ancient India and Buddhism

Wrote the masterpiece "The World as Will and Representation"

This book inspired many later anti-natalist philosophers

Schopenhauer believes

Each individual does not exist before birth

It’s all just nothing

Birth is equal to receiving the gift of life

from nothing to something

But after death, it will return to nothingness

So life is about making something out of nothing

Finally returned to nothingness

What kind of power makes life emerge from a state of nothingness?

This force was called "will" by Schopenhauer

Unlike the philosophers of the past,

Schopenhauer believed that will was not limited to humans

Everything has an active force that allows it to grow and continue

Like the power of plant and animal growth, the formation of crystals

These are driven by the will of nature

But no matter how all things in nature develop,

In the end, there is no way to escape the fate of death

So life has developed a way to overcome death

It's about giving birth

Pass your life to the next generation

This will keep the will to live alive

This explains why animals have sexual desires

Because individuals will die one day

In order to preserve the species as a whole

The will to life drives individuals to have sexual behaviors

So the will actually does not belong to the individual

but belongs to the entire species

It’s not “I have the will to live, I have a sexual desire.”

Rather, "the will to live possesses humans, and sexual desire dominates humans."

Reasons for surviving life

It’s because of the trait of reproduction

Life constantly changes its shape and appearance in order to reproduce

To adapt to various environments

We are what we are today

In other words

The purpose of survival is reproduction

Human beings are beings toyed with by the will to survive.

Each individual is blindly driven by sexual desire to reproduce

like ants

It doesn't matter if one of them is trampled to death.

The entire ant community will be driven by will

To complete the mission of this species

But Schopenhauer said

When a person is driven by sexual desire to have sexual impulses

Although it will bring temporary pleasure

but after orgasm

Men will feel a sense of sadness and disgust

That is to say, entering saint mode

Schopenhauer thought this was like a portrayal of life:

Repeated pursuit of pleasure only ends up in pain

Even if a person achieves a certain goal

Will pursue bigger goals again

You will definitely feel pain when pursuing

And no matter how much success you pursue

Everyone will die eventually

like a bubble

No matter how loud you blow

It will all break eventually

So Schopenhauer said: The essence of all life is pain

This is "the sin of existence itself"

In this case

It would be better if humans never existed

It's not just that suffering individuals shouldn't exist

But the entire species of life should not exist

Here comes the problem

What do those of us who have been born do?

Schopenhauer said that human beings must use their cognitive abilities to achieve a state of "willlessness"

That is, having no desires or desires

indifferent to everything

When you have no attachment to the world

can be freed from the pain of the world

Gain the joy of freedom and peace

Such a person is like a mirror

Just reflects the appearance of the world

without being disturbed by the world

This idea of ​​eliminating desire and gaining liberation

It is inspired by Buddhism and Hinduism

Like the ascetics in India who give up all desire for survival

According to Schopenhauer, this is an example of moving toward "willlessness"

So Schopenhauer is not only against birth, but also against human sexuality

If everyone abstains from sex

The natural result is

No more new life will be born in the world

Humanity will eventually slowly become extinct

This sounds like a very pessimistic philosophy

But in Schopenhauer's view

On the contrary, it is a victory of mankind against the will to survive.

I think the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, /font>

stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction. stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction.

So what's the point of getting out of bed in the morning?

I tell myself I bear witness I tell myself i bear witness

But actually I was just designed to be like this the real answer is that it's obviously my programming.

And I lack the constitution for suicide.

However, although Schopenhauer supported sterilization, he did not support suicide.

Because the person who commits suicide is fighting against life

Rather than the will to survive

Suicide just because of dissatisfaction with living conditions

Not because he really objects to living

in other words

People who commit suicide actually long for a better life

He commits suicide only when his life is unsatisfactory

But Schopenhauer believes

What should be cut off is this desire for a "good life"

Because I want a good life

It represents the will controlling human beings behind the scenes.

So Schopenhauer would say to someone who wants to commit suicide:

you don't really want to end your life

But want to end the pain

In fact, there is no need to commit suicide

Because your pain comes from you still having desires

So what needs to be eliminated is this desire

Instead of eliminating those who have desires

Now we are going to move into contemporary philosophy

An introduction to today's leading anti-natalist philosophers

David Benatar

His works also have Chinese translations in Taiwan

It's called "How hard it is to be a human being"

Benetta's theory is called birth injury theory

He believes that being born in this world will always bring harm

It has nothing to do with one’s subjective feelings

If someone thinks that living is a beautiful thing

That means they made a mistake

I haven’t thought about the issue of birth carefully.

Benetta starts from a premise:

"Feeling pain is a bad thing, feeling happiness is a good thing"

Now we imagine two scenarios

when people exist

There must be pain

There is also pleasure

That is to say, there are good things and bad things in life.

But if a person has never been born

There will be no pain

But there is no chance to feel happiness

But now Benetta says

No chance to feel happiness

It's not a bad thing

But it was painful to be born

Must be a bad thing

There is an asymmetry between the two

Think about it if there was a baby with a rare disease

Giving birth to him will make him suffer for the rest of his life

We will feel that this has ethical issues

The parents who gave birth to him must bear ethical responsibility

But if it's a baby destined to be happy

Parents suddenly decided not to have children

We don’t think these parents are evil either.

in other words

The logic of pain cannot be applied to happiness

This is similar to saying

If we saw a man on Mars

Enjoy the beautiful scenery on Mars

We will feel that this person is so happy

But if there were no people on Mars

You wouldn't say this is too immoral, would you?

There's no one up there

The same principle can be proved

Life cannot come to this world to experience happiness

not a bad thing

Parents have no obligation to give birth to children

But if life comes to the world, it will suffer

That must be a bad thing

Parents have the obligation not to give birth to their children

So it is better not to be born than to be born

In this case

It would actually be more legitimate not to have children.

Those who want to have children

More arguments should be presented to rationalize their behavior

Think about it

If you have a baby in Taiwan

I have been tortured by the education system since I was a child.

Worry about being hit by a car every day

When you grow up, you have to accept low wages

In this social environment

People who still want to have children are special, right?

These people should come out and explain

Why do you dare to have children in such an environment?

So in the future someone will ask you why you don’t have children

Just tell him Benetta's theory of birth harm.

In turn, I asked him to prove why he dared to have children.

We can further challenge Benetta's theory

Although you will experience pain after being born

But you can also experience many good things

But if you weren’t born, you wouldn’t be able to experience anything.

Wouldn't it be better to be born this way?

Benetta said it would be better not to be born than to be born.

We can think of life as a piece of fabric

Everyone can paint on a clean white cloth

You can make your life colorful

But no matter how beautiful you paint the cloth

Nothing can beat the original purity and flawlessness

And there must be many places where your painting is not perfect.

These stains will ruin the painting

Since being born is always worse than not being born

Benetta will finally come to a conclusion

All humans should be sterilized

Human extinction would be better for humanity

When ordinary people hear it, they may think

Does this person have any hatred of mankind?

But Benetta advises everyone not to have children because she loves human beings.

Because human beings are living beings with a sense of pain.

Every time a new life is born

Just one more person on earth will feel the pain

If people don’t have the perception of pain

Then Benetta will not object to the birth of humans

In the world that Benetta dreams of, there is no life that can feel pain.

So actually not only humans need to be sterilized

People still need to sterilize animals

After all animals become extinct

Humanity can become extinct

Otherwise, even if humans become extinct

In the world, there will still be predators of the weak and the strong in the animal kingdom.

There are still animals that feel pain

For example, Benetta is a vegetarian

Refuse to cause animals to feel pain

But even if humans and animals become extinct

Actually it's not enough

Because in the future, bacteria and insects may evolve into species that feel pain.

So humans need to invent a monitoring system

As long as it is detected that a species that can feel pain has evolved

We must eliminate them in time

Because it is the power of life evolution that allows pain to appear in the world

So Benetta’s anti-natalism

In fact, we are working against the power of life evolution.

In my opinion, the existence of life... is an overrated phenomenon In my opinion, the existence of life... is a highly overrated phenomenon.

Look around you Just look around you.

Mars gets along perfectly well without so much as a microorganism.

So tell me, So tell me,

What else is needed to make this better, build a pipeline? how would all of this be greatly improved by an oil pipeline?

Or a shopping mall? By a shopping mall?

But although Benetta denies birth,

But it does not support people committing suicide

Because his theoretical premise is

Don't let life feel painful

If you commit suicide, you will not only bring harm to yourself

It will make the people who love you suffer even more

So suicide actually brings more pain into the world.

Even more immoral than having a baby

The only exception is that seriously ill patients may be worse off than dead

At this time, asking the patient to euthanasia will reduce the pain

We can use the analogy of watching a movie to illustrate Benetta’s theory of birth harm.

Birth is like your parents taking you to the cinema to watch a movie

You don’t realize until the movie starts that it’s a bad movie

You look painful

But your parents bought a ticket for you and let you in.

You just have to finish watching it.

Because if you see half of it and leave

It's like abandoning your parents

All you can do is stop dragging other people into watching this shitty movie

For Benetta

Life is a crappy movie

Although it is ugly

But we can't leave halfway

All we can do is not let new life enter this world

After introducing the anti-birth philosophy

Finally, we introduce the philosophy of affirming birth

The most important philosopher is Nietzsche

Nietzsche's philosophy is a criticism of Schopenhauer

So it can be seen as a philosophical debate between "affirming birth" and "anti-birth"

Nietzsche first discussed the topic of denying birth in "The Birth of Tragedy"

King Midas asked his attendant Silenus: What is the greatest good of mankind?

The attendant replied: The best thing for a human being is not to be born

The next best thing is to die quickly

This is the anti-birth trend that was prevalent in ancient Greece.

Later it also appeared in Schopenhauer's pessimistic philosophy

Nietzsche retorted:

Think non-existence is better than existence

The very idea is a disease, a decline

is a kind of nihilism

Nietzsche believed that human birth is an "innocence of becoming"

The universe is always being created

Life will continue to give birth to the next generation

Your parents gave birth to you

There is no question of good or evil here

Just like water spontaneously evaporates into water vapor

We cannot say that this generation is evil

The opposite of

Nietzsche advocated a life-affirming philosophy

Nietzsche said: Never wish to exist in a way different from reality

No matter in the past or in the future, never

That is to say

Don't think about it all day long:

It would have been better if I hadn't been born

This anti-birth attitude

Just escaping reality

Just like Christians fantasizing about a better life after death

Nietzsche proposed a thought experiment to affirm the existence of this world

called eternal return

We can imagine that the passage of time has no end and is infinite

However, the matter and energy in the universe are limited

This means that after all possible events have occurred

The universe will definitely repeat what happened in the past

in other words

The state of things that exists now has happened before

It's just that we mistakenly thought this was the first time it happened

So when we do anything

If you are sure in your heart, you can immediately say: That’s exactly it! This is what I want!

Affirmation of the present is actually an eternal affirmation

because of what's happening now

This has happened countless times in the past universe.

You may ask

Imagine that what you have done has been repeated countless times

Isn't that boring?

It should be unique because it can only be experienced once in life.

Nietzsche believes that eternal return will not make life lose its uniqueness

On the contrary, it will be more dazzling because of it

Because when you take action

You must think about:

It doesn’t matter if this kind of life repeats itself an infinite number of times

Then you will definitely take the action that is most meaningful to you

So the philosopher Karl Löwith summarized Nietzsche's eternal return as:

"One must live in such a way that one longs to repeat every moment."

Even though you break my heart over and over again

I want to tell you

If there is an afterlife

I will still choose to file taxes with you

Open a laundry

What I am willing to do is what I am willing to do repeatedly.

Then Nietzsche said:

"When you affirm one joy, you also affirm all pain."

Happiness and pain are interdependent

Man cannot come into the world after

Just want the happiness in the world and exclude all the pain

Because everything in the world is interconnected

For example, if you want to be born

The premise is that your parents want to meet

Then your parents' parents will also meet

Keep tracing back

It can be traced back to the immigration of Han people to Taiwan

The stories behind these immigrants are full of suffering

Like Japanese colonization

World War II

February 28 Incident

So when you affirm your wonderful life

In fact, it also affirms the suffering of our ancestors.

in other words

Eternal Return is not just about good things happening again

But all the suffering in human history will happen again

Anti-natalists would counter that

I am against having children because there is too much suffering in the world

How is it possible that human suffering should be repeated indefinitely?

Nietzsche would respond:

There is a basis behind the eternal return

It's called Amor fati

No matter how miserable life is

We all need to love this world

Longing for this world to be repeated countless times

why

Because if eternal return exists

Then everything that happens in life has already happened.

That is to say, everything is inevitable by fate.

This inevitability does not make us feel powerless

On the contrary, it makes us feel

Everything is arranged in the dark

Like every piece of a puzzle is indispensable

Nietzsche used the term "love destiny"

A bit like the love a parent has for a child

What will the child look like after birth?

Are there any rare diseases?

It's determined by fate

Parents will not blame their children for their defects

Don’t love your own children

I won't complain about this

How wonderful it would be if I hadn't given birth to this child

so what?

Do you not care about everything else? you just gonna ignore everything else?

You can be anything anywhere. you could be anything anywhere.

Why not go to one why not go somewhere where your...

Your daughter is not just a place like this? where your daughter is more than just this

If fate gives me a defective child

Then it is this defective child that I love

This is like the mother in the movie "Alien"

Obviously already know the result

We can see that children will die from diseases in the future

Still willing to give birth to a child?

Experience destiny again and again

Despite knowing the journey and where it leads,

I will still embrace it I embrace it.

And I welcome every moment of it .

This is the meaning of Nietzsche's "fateful love" and "eternal return"

There are many flawed moments in life

As if determined by fate

But we should not deny ourselves and say, "I would rather not have been born."

Wait, isn't this kind of fateful love a bit like letting fate happen?

Do you feel a sense of destiny?

The author’s interpretation of Nietzsche is:

Destiny love is more like accepting the bad things that happened in the past

Because there is an inevitability behind the occurrence of these things

What happened, happened

Don't make strange things

Don't dwell on past mistakes

Such talents can welcome a new life and face the world

So the love of destiny is an affirmation of life

For example, no one wants war to happen

But looking back at human history

There are just a lot of wars

Destined love will ask us to recognize

This is the yesterday of mankind

But that doesn’t mean we can’t proactively intervene in the future

People can still take the initiative to create new history

Therefore, Nietzsche’s anti-birth thoughts are completely different from those of Schopenhauer and Benatar.

They all believe that no matter how happy life is

There is no way to avoid pain

Pain is the essence of life

So having children is immoral.

make life suffer

But for Nietzsche

Pain is nothing

That is just the common destiny of mankind

There is only one moment in life

Let yourself feel: It’s good to be alive

Then all the pain will be worth it.

The wind was very warm that day

I feel very comfortable just running

Watching the fallen leaves flying all over the sky

At that time I suddenly felt that for some reason

Maybe I want to race with them here

Just born in this world

It's like a painter painting a picture

Even if 99% of life is painted in pitch black

As long as there is 1% bright spot

It can make 99% of the past look different in an instant

So Nietzsche affirmed that everyone should love the darkness in life

rather than being like those anti-natalists

Complaining all day long that it would have been better if I hadn't been born

Let's not have another generation

In Nietzsche's opinion, these remarks are the weak escaping from reality.

Dare not accept the challenge of fate

Failure to understand the truth of eternal return

Today's video

We profile anti-natalist thought over the past two thousand years

Oedipus in ancient Greece

Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament

Buddha in Ancient India

Schopenhauer's philosophy of will

Benetta's Birth Damage Theory

And Nietzsche’s eternal return and fateful love

Throughout the ages

All philosophers are looking for the meaning of life

Trying to answer which one is better, yes to birth or no to birth?

until today

Philosophers still don't have a final answer

But anti-natalism is beginning to be discussed again in today’s society

It reflects that there are too many sufferings in today’s society

The public has begun to think

Is having children harming the next generation?

Not getting married or having children may be a more moral choice

As long as this society makes people find it difficult to survive

Anti-birtherism will never disappear