Puistofilosofiaa - Park Philosophy - Ikaalinen

Wednesday 16 July at 5:00 PM Ikaalinen Central Park:

MATTI HÄYRY: No new people, no world, no purpose – but in what order?

I talk about anti-natalism (no new people), extinctionism (no world) and nihilism (no purpose), and I spice up my talk with appropriate and inappropriate songs.

My anti-natalism means to me that I have no offspring, I do not intend to have any, and I would have nothing against it – I would perhaps even be in my mind – that everyone else would follow the same line.

The formulations “nothing against it” and “perhaps even in my mind” lead so deep into the depths of moral philosophy that we will see if we can get back from there. They also lead to – vaguely defined – extinctionism.

My nihilism – if there is such a thing – is still in the process of being selected. Let’s see if I have anything sensible to say about it. If not, there is always a large group of park philosophers I can ask. I wonder if that’s something that can be done, in a cooperative way.

Matti Häyry is a professor and researcher at Aalto University School of Economics. His book Antinatalism, Extinction, and the End of Procreative Self-Corruption (Cambridge University Press 2024, with Amanda Sukenick) has attracted attention from all five antinatalists in the world.