Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Marcus Teo argues for moderate antinatalism, but what is that? I speak with him to discuss his work, ideas and more.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by Marcus here are solely his own and not those of any other entity. This is a work-in-progress discussion of his current research which may evolve as his doctoral work continues.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~INFO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
π§ | Contact Me: lawrenceant@protonmail.com
π₯ | Support my work with a one-off donation or monthly support for added perks: ko-fi.com/lawrenceanton
My projects:
π―οΈ | Rebutting common natalist arguments: antinatalisthandbook.org
β | Increasing your impact as an antinatalist: antinatalistadvocacy.org
Get your favourite antinatalist clothing:
π | Anti Natalist Social Club T-shirt: a12497-55.myshopify.com/products/anti-natalist-social-club-tee
βͺοΈ | Antinatalist Sticker Pack: a12497-55.myshopify.com/products/antinatalist-quotes-stickers-pack-of-5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TIMESTAMPS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
00:00 β Intro
00:40 β Marcus
05:22 β Antinatalism
10:43 β Moderate Antinatalism
19:26 β Lives Worth Starting
54:45 β Lives Permissible to Start
01:11:45 β Critiques of Moderate Antinatalism
01:24:00 β The Non-Identity Problem
01:28:57 β Discussing Antinatalism in Academia
01:36:08 β Future Plans + Outro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LINKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus's papers:
β’ Best to possibly not be: A prudential argument for antinatalism: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bioe.13330?af=R
β’ From Abstinence to Assistance: Antinatalism's Unexpected Endorsement of the Principle of Procreative Beneficence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bioe.13432
β’ Lives worth living and the danger of ignoring non-identity limits on genetic preference: jme.bmj.com/content/early/2025/08/10/jme-2025-110888
Another interview with Marcus: youtube.com/watch?v=IgMUqVHe5fU
Better Never to Have Been (David Benatar): amazon.co.uk/Better-Never-Have-Been-Existence/dp/0199549265
Very Practical Ethics (David Benatar): global.oup.com/academic/product/very-practical-ethics-9780197780800?lang=en&cc=us
A Rational Cure to Pre-Reproductive Stress Syndrome (Matti HΓ€yry): jme.bmj.com/content/31/10/606
Procreative Generosity: Why We Should Not Have Children (Matti HΓ€yry): mdpi.com/2409-9287/8/5/96
To never exist is always best. A critique of the metaphysics of pronatalism in contemporary bioethics (Konrad Szocik): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39535298
Outro Music // The Last Time - Kayou. // Provided by @LofiGirl
Marcus Teo argues for moderate antinatalism, but what is that? I speak with him to discuss his work, ideas and more.
Disclaimer: The views expressed by Marcus here are solely his own and not those of any other entity. This is a work-in-progress discussion of his current research which may evolve as his doctoral work continues.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~INFO~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
π§ | Contact Me: lawrenceant@protonmail.com
π₯ | Support my work with a one-off donation or monthly support for added perks: ko-fi.com/lawrenceanton
My projects:
π―οΈ | Rebutting common natalist arguments: antinatalisthandbook.org
β | Increasing your impact as an antinatalist: antinatalistadvocacy.org
Get your favourite antinatalist clothing:
π | Anti Natalist Social Club T-shirt: a12497-55.myshopify.com/products/anti-natalist-social-club-tee
βͺοΈ | Antinatalist Sticker Pack: a12497-55.myshopify.com/products/antinatalist-quotes-stickers-pack-of-5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TIMESTAMPS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
00:00 β Intro
00:40 β Marcus
05:22 β Antinatalism
10:43 β Moderate Antinatalism
19:26 β Lives Worth Starting
54:45 β Lives Permissible to Start
01:11:45 β Critiques of Moderate Antinatalism
01:24:00 β The Non-Identity Problem
01:28:57 β Discussing Antinatalism in Academia
01:36:08 β Future Plans + Outro
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LINKS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marcus's papers:
β’ Best to possibly not be: A prudential argument for antinatalism: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bioe.13330?af=R
β’ From Abstinence to Assistance: Antinatalism's Unexpected Endorsement of the Principle of Procreative Beneficence: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bioe.13432
β’ Lives worth living and the danger of ignoring non-identity limits on genetic preference: jme.bmj.com/content/early/2025/08/10/jme-2025-110888
Another interview with Marcus: youtube.com/watch?v=IgMUqVHe5fU
Better Never to Have Been (David Benatar): amazon.co.uk/Better-Never-Have-Been-Existence/dp/0199549265
Very Practical Ethics (David Benatar): global.oup.com/academic/product/very-practical-ethics-9780197780800?lang=en&cc=us
A Rational Cure to Pre-Reproductive Stress Syndrome (Matti HΓ€yry): jme.bmj.com/content/31/10/606
Procreative Generosity: Why We Should Not Have Children (Matti HΓ€yry): mdpi.com/2409-9287/8/5/96
To never exist is always best. A critique of the metaphysics of pronatalism in contemporary bioethics (Konrad Szocik): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39535298
Outro Music // The Last Time - Kayou. // Provided by @LofiGirl
