D. Benatar, Better never to have been

Coming into existence, The good, the bad, and the indifferent

Chris Kaposy

pp. 101-108

in: Human Studies 32 (1), 2009.

Abstract

Nietzsche tells a story in The Birth of Tragedy of King Midas’s capture of Silenus, the wise companion of Dionysus. While in his clutches, King Midas insisted to hear from Silenus “what was best and most desirable of all things for man.” After resisting for a while, Silenus asked “why do you compel me to tell you what it would be most expedient for you not to hear? What is best of all is utterly beyond your reach: not to be born, not to be, to be nothing. But the second best for you is—to die soon” (Nietzsche 1992, s. 3).