allyoursocks
Thailand
There is a big difference between being nothing and being something that experiences nothingness.
Indeed, if death is complete annihilation, why should it be feared?
Lucretius.
Once death has occurred, the deceased individual no longer exists as a subject of experiences.
An event can be good or bad for individuals only if they exist at the time of the event, as subjects of possible experiences.
humanism.org.uk/education/courses/death-dying-and-meaning/
Death, Dying and Meaning
1. What’s so bad about death?
The nature of death – annihilation and non-existence;
Surviving as the same person over time;
Death as a harm – assessment of the argument of Lucretius;
What do you lose through death?
The harm of dying young.
2. Ending lives
Some case studies of suicide/euthanasia;
Some distinctions: epistemic/metaphysical; legal/moral;
The sanctity of human life: the right to life / the right to death;
Hume on suicide;
Mill’s Liberty Principle and respect for individuals’ autonomy;
Slippery slope arguments;
Euthanasia and palliative care.
3. Respecting the dying and the deceased
How we do respect the dead;
Lucretius argument re ‘no harms when dead’;
How to be harmed even when dead;
Betrayal example / Kafka’s request example;
Respecting euthanasia requests – binding ourselves in the future;
Non-voluntary euthanasia / organ donation etc.
4. Death and the meaning of life
‘What’s the point?’ Eternal life solves nothing;
Valuing both ends and means;
‘We are but specks in the universe;’
Non-existence before birth: a mirror to death;
Drinking the elixir of life – the need for death;
Perspectives on life.
humanism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/death-dying-and-meanin...
"On the one hand, when life is going well for individuals, death strikes most of us as obviously undesirable. After all, something that is going well ought not to be brought to an end – well, so we may think. On the other hand, when things are going badly for individuals, death may then seem highly desirable."
Thailand
There is a big difference between being nothing and being something that experiences nothingness.
Indeed, if death is complete annihilation, why should it be feared?
Lucretius.
Once death has occurred, the deceased individual no longer exists as a subject of experiences.
An event can be good or bad for individuals only if they exist at the time of the event, as subjects of possible experiences.
humanism.org.uk/education/courses/death-dying-and-meaning/
Death, Dying and Meaning
1. What’s so bad about death?
The nature of death – annihilation and non-existence;
Surviving as the same person over time;
Death as a harm – assessment of the argument of Lucretius;
What do you lose through death?
The harm of dying young.
2. Ending lives
Some case studies of suicide/euthanasia;
Some distinctions: epistemic/metaphysical; legal/moral;
The sanctity of human life: the right to life / the right to death;
Hume on suicide;
Mill’s Liberty Principle and respect for individuals’ autonomy;
Slippery slope arguments;
Euthanasia and palliative care.
3. Respecting the dying and the deceased
How we do respect the dead;
Lucretius argument re ‘no harms when dead’;
How to be harmed even when dead;
Betrayal example / Kafka’s request example;
Respecting euthanasia requests – binding ourselves in the future;
Non-voluntary euthanasia / organ donation etc.
4. Death and the meaning of life
‘What’s the point?’ Eternal life solves nothing;
Valuing both ends and means;
‘We are but specks in the universe;’
Non-existence before birth: a mirror to death;
Drinking the elixir of life – the need for death;
Perspectives on life.
humanism.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/death-dying-and-meanin...
"On the one hand, when life is going well for individuals, death strikes most of us as obviously undesirable. After all, something that is going well ought not to be brought to an end – well, so we may think. On the other hand, when things are going badly for individuals, death may then seem highly desirable."