Career
He is best known for his advocacy of antinatalism in his book Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence, in which he argues that coming into existence is a serious harm, regardless of the feelings of the existing being once brought into existence, and that, as a consequence, it is always morally wrong to create more sentient beings. Benatar argues from the uncontroversial premise that pain is, in itself, a bad thing. Nevertheless, he offers qualified defences of the corporal punishment of children and the circumcision of male infants (which he deems a matter for parental discretion).
In an interview with True Detective creator and writer Nic Pizzolatto, Benatar"s Better Never to Have Been is cited as an influence on the television series, along with Ray Brassier"s Nihil Unbound, Thomas Ligotti"s The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, Jim Crawford"s Confessions of an Antinatalist, and Eugene Thacker"s In The Dust of This Planet.
His work has been published in such journals as Ethics, Journal of Applied Philosophy, Social Theory and Practice, American Philosophical Quarterly, QJM: An International Journal of Medicine, Journal of Law and Religion and the British Medical Journal. Benatar"s The Second Sexism: Discrimination Against Men and Boys (2012) has been met with controversy.
I am under no illusions. My position, no matter how clearly stated, is likely to be misunderstood."
Benatar is vegan, and has taken part in debates on veganism.