The Philosopher Who Led Me Toward Suffering Abolition: An Open Letter to David Pearce and a Documentary History of Our Disagreement
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: David Pearce's review of *Brave New World* introduced me to the formal suffering-abolition project and helped me give philosophical vocabulary to a moral concern I had held since childhood. This participant-authored scholarly polemic records how that intellectual debt became a named philosophical criticism. I contend that Pearce's continued externalist commitment, and repeated failure to address the specific answers I supplied to his objections, contribute to preserving conceptual conditions under which suffering can be discounted. The accusation concerns philosophical consequences and conduct in an exchange; it does not accuse Pearce of endorsing torture. I consolidate a dispersed record of public replies, author-preserved conversation excerpts, published responses, and journal correspondence, distinguishing non-materialist physicalism from materialism and Experiential Empiricism from personal solipsism. The direct open letter remains the emotional center. The surrounding history connects the other-minds dispute to Hedonic Core, suffering prevention, AI alignment, institutional recognition, and neglected cryonics questions. The contribution is the consolidation and interpretation of this philosophical and interpersonal record, offered for independent criticism and future citation. Copyright © 2026 Brandon M. Sergent. All rights reserved.
Author: Sergent, Brandon M.
Language: English
Subfield: Philosophy
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7224485414