Human Antinatalism and the Limits of Bipolar Pessimism

David Benatar's Better Never to Have Been (2006) presents a view that came to be known as antinatalism: the claim that it is always wrong to have children, because life is bad, death is bad, and the only way to avoid both is never to be brought into existence. Benatar argues that his two-barreled-or "bipolar"-pessimism is not limited to humans but applies equally to all sentient beings. This extension, however, is prone to producing theoretical confusion. The anti-reproductive view laid out in the book is coherent as a form of human antinatalism, but Benatar's own caveats prevent it from developing into the radical sentiocentrism it seems to promise.