Begetting – What does it mean to create a child?

Mara lectures and philosophy at the University of Saint Andrews, and is the author of Dark Matters: Pessimism and the Problem of Suffering and Hopeful Pessimism, both reviewed in these pages. This perspective informs her nuanced and subtle discussion of the ethics of procreation, especially in relation to the good of the child in the light of suffering. She rightly insists on the moral background of our choices and decisions related to begetting in terms of reflection and responsibility. Most of us are unconsciously embedded in cultural assumptions, examined in some detail here. The book falls into five parts: arguments, climate, narratives, motives, and alternatives.

Mara deconstructs our sense of entitlement while discussing a number of narratives around procreation – personal desire, biological urges, parental maturity, romantic fulfilment, virtue, and entitlement itself. At one extreme is anti-natalism represented by David Benatar and arguing that it is better never to have been, given the harm of coming into existence. At the other, is the implied hope of giving birth in a world of uncertainty, while taking to account the ecological impact of growing populations – the good of the planet. It is interesting to read of the emergence of Dutch parental vows parallel to marriage vows and reminding parents of the lifelong relationship implied.

Perhaps the most profound theme in the book is Mara's discussion of Etty Hillesum, whose book An Interrupted Life I have reviewed in these pages. She was caught up in the Dutch Jewish resistance also working for the Jewish Council, and herself deported to Auschwitz in 1943. She articulates and embodies existential gratitude despite everything, and she does not want to be responsible for bringing a suffering being into the world. Etty is guided by her inner voice, and plumbs the depths of the human condition. Mara writes that 'as the darkness deepened, so too do her gratitude and appreciation for existence', and her hardest lesson is to bear the suffering imposed, not just the suffering she has chosen for herself. In the end, though, 'it is good and beautiful to live in your world, despite everything we humans do to one another'. There is an echo of Albert Camus here, but beyond Promethean defiance, 'a message of uncompromising authenticity and utter obedience to the deepest sources of the self.' (p. 220). Mara concludes that we should take inspiration from the ethical stance that is at the root and centre of her vision – indeed. This engaging and informative book should be widely read and discussed.