{"id":4638,"date":"2010-06-09T15:09:20","date_gmt":"2010-06-09T19:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/?p=4638"},"modified":"2010-06-11T12:22:26","modified_gmt":"2010-06-11T16:22:26","slug":"peter-singer-why-not-sterilize-the-human-race-into-extinction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2010\/06\/peter-singer-why-not-sterilize-the-human-race-into-extinction\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Singer: ‘Why Not Sterilize the Human Race into Extinction?’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Peter<\/a>
Peter Singer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6\/8\/2010 – Peter J. Smith –
\nPrinceton philosopher Peter Singer one of the world\u2019s foremost contemporary utilitarian philosophers infamous for his advocacy of infanticide, would like individuals to consider this question: would sterilizing the human race to spare future generations the pain of existence be a good idea?<\/p>\n

In a blog post for the New York Times entitled \u201cShould this be the last generation?\u201d Singer discusses in glowing terms the thought of South African philosopher David Benatar. Singer calls Benator the \u201cauthor of a fine book with an arresting title: Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming into Existence<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo bring into existence someone who will suffer is, Benatar argues, to harm that person, but to bring into existence someone who will have a good life is not to benefit him or her,\u201d explains Singer.<\/p>\n

Both Singer and Benatar both believe that human beings do not have inherent dignity. Singer, the Princeton Chair of Bioethics, has gained notoriety for asserting that infanticide is justifiable, especially for disabled infants, because they lack self-awareness, which he asserts is a requirement for personhood.<\/p>\n

A key difference, however, between Singer and Benatar, an existential nihilist who chairs the Department of Philosophy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, is that Singer believes life could be worth living in certain conditions. But Benatar flat out rejects existence as good, and the still-living author discusses that view in his controversial book.<\/p>\n

Singer explains Benatar\u2019s antinatalist philosophy, which bases its moral framework by weighing the consequences of existence, in this way: \u201ceveryone will suffer to some extent, and if our species continues to reproduce, we can be sure that some future children will suffer severely. Hence continued reproduction will harm some children severely, and benefit none.\u201d<\/p>\n

Singer then invites readers to engage in a thought experiment:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why don\u2019t we make ourselves the last generation on earth? If we would all agree to have ourselves sterilized then no sacrifices would be required \u2014 we could party our way into extinction!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if we take a less pessimistic view of human existence than Benatar, we could still defend [this scenario], because it makes us better off \u2014 for one thing, we can get rid of all that guilt about what we are doing to future generations \u2014 and it doesn\u2019t make anyone worse off, because there won\u2019t be anyone else to be worse off,\u201d he continued.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Singer distances himself from Benatar\u2019s conclusions, however, and says, \u201cI do think it would be wrong to choose the non-sentient universe.\u201d Nevertheless, he said that for the human race to continue justifying reproducing itself over the next two centuries, individuals should ask themselves the hard questions of, \u201cIs life worth living? Are the interests of a future child a reason for bringing that child into existence? And is the continuance of our species justifiable in the face of our knowledge that it will certainly bring suffering to innocent future human beings?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bioethicist Wesley J. Smith, a longtime critic of Singer\u2019s work, responded to Singer\u2019s recent article, saying,<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is nihilism on stilts and it is polluting the West\u2019s self confidence and belief in universal human equality like the BP oil well is polluting the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly the resulting mess isn\u2019t measured in polluted beaches and dead birds, but existential despair that destroys human lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the influence of anti-human advocates like Peter Singer, we have gone in the West from seeking to \u2018secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity,\u2019 to seriously questioning whether there should be any posterity at all,\u201d Smith wrote on his blog. \u201cThis is not healthy. But it is the natural consequence of rejecting human exceptionalism.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

HT: LifeSiteNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6\/8\/2010 – Peter J. Smith – Princeton philosopher Peter Singer one of the world\u2019s foremost contemporary utilitarian philosophers infamous for his advocacy of infanticide, would like individuals to consider this question: would sterilizing the human race to spare future generations the pain of existence be a good idea? In a blog post for the New … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":497,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,72,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-war","category-leftism","category-leftist-lunatic-fringe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4638\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}