Interesting line of thought Rus. I found the article underwhelming. It asks questions so obvious as to stare us in the face and arguing thence as if it were some great revelation.
It's hard to imagine how not being alive anymore is not a dismaying turn of events for the formerly alive. On the other hand, we who are not dead yet won't know what death actually entails — if it entails anything other than non-being — until we are dead. We are all growing ever nearer to it, of course, though I am nearer to it than many others since I am an old man. I suppose my principal feeling toward it these days is one of wariness. I would like to reach a point where I can face it with equanimity.
Hi Frank, as a young man, maybe it's in our nature to "pack" life with all that we can. Somewhere we imagine drawing the fruit of such labour "down the line". As we grow old, does the urge to make ourselves busy lessen? Maybe the definition of "down the line" gets less hazy.
We all believe that death is bad. But why is death bad?
In thinking about this question, I am simply going to assume that the death of my body is the end of my existence as a person. (If you don't believe me, read the first nine chapters of my book.)
I was immediately put off by the parenthetical. It's as if from now on, we can all say that death of the body is the death of the existence of the person, and if you don't believe us, read the first nine chapters of Shelly Kagan's book.
But if that parenthetical could be edited out, then the exercise--which must hold to her assumption that her assumption "that the death of my body is the end of my existence as a person"--becomes an interesting exercise. The question then "Is our own deaths bad for us," has nothing to do with the question of whether "afterlife" or the resumption of an alternate life, or what have you, is good or bad.
Thanks Vikram, I just commented there (#151)
ReplyDeleteInteresting line of thought Rus. I found the article underwhelming. It asks questions so obvious as to stare us in the face and arguing thence as if it were some great revelation.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine how not being alive anymore is not a dismaying turn of events for the formerly alive. On the other hand, we who are not dead yet won't know what death actually entails — if it entails anything other than non-being — until we are dead. We are all growing ever nearer to it, of course, though I am nearer to it than many others since I am an old man. I suppose my principal feeling toward it these days is one of wariness. I would like to reach a point where I can face it with equanimity.
ReplyDeleteHi Frank, as a young man, maybe it's in our nature to "pack" life with all that we can. Somewhere we imagine drawing the fruit of such labour "down the line". As we grow old, does the urge to make ourselves busy lessen? Maybe the definition of "down the line" gets less hazy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteShelly Kagan begins her article with these lines:
ReplyDeleteWe all believe that death is bad. But why is death bad?
In thinking about this question, I am simply going to assume that the death of my body is the end of my existence as a person. (If you don't believe me, read the first nine chapters of my book.)
I was immediately put off by the parenthetical. It's as if from now on, we can all say that death of the body is the death of the existence of the person, and if you don't believe us, read the first nine chapters of Shelly Kagan's book.
But if that parenthetical could be edited out, then the exercise--which must hold to her assumption that her assumption "that the death of my body is the end of my existence as a person"--becomes an interesting exercise. The question then "Is our own deaths bad for us," has nothing to do with the question of whether "afterlife" or the resumption of an alternate life, or what have you, is good or bad.