David Benatar is a professor of philosophy and the head of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa. He is known for his advocacy of antinatalism in his book "Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence", in which he argues that coming into existence is a serious harm, regardless of the feelings of the existing being once brought into existence, and that, as a consequence, it is always morally wrong to create more sentient beings.

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This book argues for a number of related views: (1) Coming into existence is always a serious harm. (2) Procreation is always wrong. (3) It is wrong not to abort foetuses at the earlier stages of gestation. (4) It would be better if, as a result of there being no new people, humanity became extinct. Although these conclusions are antagonistic to common and deeply held intuitions, the author argues that these intuitions are unreliable and thus cannot be used to refute the book's grim-sounding conclusions.

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