u/greentomato97

Alexio loves to ask, "but what is gravity? All you've done is describe what gravity DOES." I am really curious as to why he thinks there HAS to be a THING. Why can't there just be functions. Operators. Structural realism. Sure, this doesn't jive as well with his preconceived notions about panpsychism and "indivisible units of consciousness," but I don't think he should dismiss it outright. And even if THINGS do exist, what makes you think that we could even begin to determine what they are, epistemologically.

I've listened to almost all of Benatar's appearances on podcasts; more than a dozen hours. Benatar holds these views. Which do you not agree with? If you agree with them all, which are you most unsure of? I'm not doing a philosophical purity test. I'm asking you to answer based upon your deepest intuitions; your heart of hearts.

I'm a genuine agnostic as to the morality of creation of a being. I ask these questions in genuine good faith.

1. You should be indifferent between not creating a being, and creating a being with boundless, infinite happiness.

2. Absent any other factors, creating a being that will have boundless, infinite happiness, but will stub its toe really bad once, is wrong.

3. Death is fundamentally bad thing. The Epicureans are wrong. It doesn't matter under what circumstances you die, or even if you welcome it at the age of 99. It is bad.

4. Furthermore, this negative accrues not only at the moment of death, but for every moment afterwards.

5. Axiologically, it is a good thing that there is no suffering on Mars. It is not a bad thing that there is no love or friendship on Mars.

6. Having a child is ALSO wrong because that child, in today's circumstances, will do more bad than good for existing beings; environmental degradation, buying conflict minerals, is not outweighed by being a "good person." (the misanthropic argument)

The ones I think are most questionable are 2, 3, and 4.

Thank you so much for your responses.

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As an exemplary data point, around 1 in 10 podcast guests on WR, year-to-date, have been females. 1 in 5 full professors of philosophy are female.

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