Posted on 06/25/2025 4:13:20 AM PDT by Phoenix8
393 views Jun 23, 2025 Is the human race viable? This video delves into the profound and often uncomfortable question of human existence, exploring the perspectives of philosophical pessimism and anti-natalism. We examine why some of history's greatest minds, and contemporary thinkers, argue that bringing new life into the world is not an act of love, but potentially an act of cruelty.
Arthur Schopenhauer: The German philosopher is renowned for his 1818 work, The World as Will and Representation, which posits that the phenomenal world is a manifestation of a blind and irrational noumenal will. For Schopenhauer, human "willing"—desiring and craving—is the root of suffering, leading to a life of ceaseless, directionless striving and perpetual suffering. He questioned whether, if children were brought into the world by pure reason, humanity would continue, suggesting that compassion might lead us to spare future generations the burden of existence. Schopenhauer's philosophy, particularly his idea of the will to live (or will to life), is an inherent drive within all creatures to stay alive and reproduce, which he felt took precedence over reason.
Peter Wessel Zapffe: This Norwegian philosopher, greatly inspired by Schopenhauer, developed a system of philosophy centered on his philosophical pessimism and firm advocacy of anti-natalism. Zapffe argued that humans are born with an overdeveloped consciousness (self-reflection, self-knowledge) that is ill-suited to nature's design, creating an unquenchable craving for justification regarding life, death, and meaning. He identified four defense mechanisms humans use to escape this paradox: isolation, anchoring, distraction, and sublimation. Zapffe passionately urged people not to have children, stating, "To bear children into this world is like carrying wood to a burning house".
John Gray: The philosopher's 2002 book, …
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I’m not a philosopher, I vaguely remember talking a class in 1981. But this guy is a nihilist and more, he believes all life is filled with pain and suffering. That the greatest evil is to bring a child into the world. He calls for the end of humanity.
Oddly to me he also recognizes nature is full of predators, pain and death. So his solution or hope I suppose is non-existence. A great void of nothingness, all death NO LIFE.
But nothing is just that, it’s devoid of all merit. How can it be something to endeavor to? How can it be superior or good compared to existence when again it’s nothing?
You can dismiss him as a fool but know his job is in fact a PROFESSOR in the UK, and I’m sure many like him are here in the USA. He is the type teaching your kids when you pay 10s of thousands of dollars for them to be educated. Then Your kids come back and wear a Bernie shirt and state they are a new gender or never want to have your grandkids and you say “how did that happen?”.
Well his type happens to them. IMO
All these nihilists tend to be nihilistic towards other people and never themselves.
That’s almost exactly the sentiment I was going to post before I even saw yours.
Guys like this have more than plenty of “will to life”. They don’t spurn this world, they embrace it. They want everyone else to reject passion, will, self preservation and most importantly reproduction.
You'd think the good professor would just put himself out of our misery already, but he apparently likes collecting a pay check, eating good food, maybe taking in a show or tossing back some wine with his fellow miserables.
Our children are our future. To not have children is, in large part, not to have a future to look forward to. Guess this is what some are proposing, but it makes no sense to me.
Of course, once we have the children, then it is our responsibility to bring them up properly. Obviously, this is not being done in many cases, according to the evidence I see.
not that I agree with this guy, but life is pain and suffering... isn’t that why us Christians look forward to the afterlife?
“Zapffe argued that humans are born with an overdeveloped consciousness (self-reflection, self-knowledge) that is ill-suited to nature’s design”
Truly moronic! So humans are not part of nature?
“Schopenhauer’s philosophy, particularly his idea of the will to live (or will to life), is an inherent drive within all creatures to stay alive and reproduce, which he felt took precedence over reason.”
So not just humans but all life should go extinct and never reappear?
What about planet and stars, since they too are doomed to destruction and death?
Amd why do idiots that believe this do us all a favor and follow through on their belief and off themselves ASAP?
These nihilists are extremely angry at those who experience full and meaningful lives. They just are not strong enough to kill themselves.
“I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”
Read “Nazi ecology” by Mark Musser to find out the origins of this anti-human mindset.
What is really interesting is that antisemitism is very closely related to the anti-human mindset.
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