What is antinatalism? There are different schools of thought within antinatalism, but each critiques procreation and the belief in the need to reproduce and have children. There are philosophical and social reasons why someone may adopt an anti-procreative worldview. Antinatalism presents a negative view of procreation. It is best to minimize world suffering; the only inevitable outcome is death.
What Is Antinatalism?
Antinatalism is a broad term for anti-procreation philosophy and school of thought. Antinatalism is a critique of human existence, has a negative view of procreation, and argues that bringing a new life into the world is harmful. The premise of antinatalism is that procreation is unethical because life is suffering. The outcome of all life is death. It is better not to bring a new life into the world because life is pain, and the child will eventually die anyway. It has been in history in other forms, from religion to philosophy. Dualist religions such as Marcionism, Encratism, and Manicheanism taught that procreation is evil because the visible world is evil, including the human body, while the spiritual world is good. The goal is to leave the physical body and world to attain a higher reality and become part of the spiritual world.
For this reason, people should not procreate because the body and physical world are evil. In philosophy, antinatalism follows negative ethics that view procreation as harmful. Humans non-consensually brought a new life into the world without the child’s consent. Certain philosophers also argue that procreation goes against the Kantian Imperative. A child cannot be brought into the world for the good of other people or the Earth. A child brings harm to the mother and Mother Earth.
In short, antinatalism presents death as harm. It is better not to get a new life into the world. It follows negative utilitarianism, which argues that minimizing suffering is more important than maximizing happiness.
EFILism
EFILism believes that since humans and animals result from unintelligent design, they experience unnecessary suffering. For that reason, it is best to stop procreating. The human race can go extinct. It places responsibility on the human race to stop breeding to stop the suffering of other sentient lives such as animals. EFILism sees humans and procreation as a problem because the real concerns are DNA, nature, and sentience on Earth.
Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
VHEMT is the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. The goal of VHEMT is for the human race to go extinct to return the Earth to its pre-human state and return Earth’s environment to non-human animals.
Childfree
Childfree is a term that describes someone who has voluntarily decided not to have children. People may be childfree for five reasons: financial, job, and career goals, no desire to have children, personal health and well-being, and the environment. The childfree movement has grown and shows there is nothing wrong with being childfree.
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Conclusion
These are four different thoughts within antinatalism, but the different variations critique human procreation because human existence is suffering. Someone may be an antinatalist for various reasons, from not wanting to have children to preserving and protecting the environment.
