I asked Benatar how his philosophy accounts for love? “It makes eminent sense to love a child who already exists, but no sense at all to think that procreation itself is an act of love towards the child.” He argues that those who do not exist have no interest in existing. /1

"The anti-natalist believes that pain outweighs pleasure (...). What follows from this? Should we not only abstain from procreation but seek to stop non-human animals from doing the same?" 1/

Benatar calls for a "pragmatic pessimism" that looks existence in the face without obsessing over its less edifying aspects and that occupies us with the task of improving the quality of life of other humans and animals - without, of course, creating new lives along the way.

According to a misanthropic moral argument for anti-natalism, we have a presumptive duty to desist from bringing into existence new members of species that cause vast amounts of harm. 1/