The mind, body and soul are connected therefore the soul must die with the body, therefore the soul must be mortal, therefore one will experience nothing after death, therefore one should not fear death. That is the Super Sparknotes version of Book III of Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things. It looks so tidy on the page laid out like that, but when broken down and considered with respect to human nature and existence, it becomes far more complex, as many things often do when taken out of the context of academic theory and applied to, for lack of a better term, real life.
Lucretius introduces his argument with an explanation as to why death evokes such fear while at the same time assuring that he will eliminate those fears by disproving them. “For just like children who tremble and fear everything / in the dark night, so we are afraid in the light sometimes / of things that ought to be no more feared than /the things that children tremble at and imagine will happen.” (3.87-89)
He begins with “now I maintain that the mind and soul are held joined together / with each other and make one nature from each other […] the other part of the soul, spread through the entire body, / obeys and is moved by the direction and impulse of the mind” (3.135-3.140). He further explains the mind, body, and soul connection with, “and neither the power of the body nor the soul is seen to be able / to feel sensations separately for itself without the energy of the other, / but sensation is kindled and ignited throughout our flesh / by shared and interdependent movements from both sides. / Moreover the body is never created by itself / nor does it grow on its own nor is it seen to endure after death” (3.333). The line in this passage most revealing ...
... middle of paper ...
...fterlife, is almost necessary to ensure goodness.
Lucretius’ ideas on the afterlife are as good as any, if his Epicurean ideology is helpful to some that is wonderful, but it is no different than other ideas on the afterlife because they all share the goal of eliminating fear. He writes, “Assuredly there is an unalterable limit to of life for mortals, / and it is impossible for us to avoid death and not pass away” (3.1076-1080). In these words death is inevitable, one must accept it as nothing, think nothing of it and live life because it is all she has. In truth, death is indeed inevitable, but one must live with a curiosity toward it, looking to it for solace and motivation if necessary, and living life as if it is all she has.
Works Cited
Lucretius, translated by Walter Englert. On the Nature of Things. Newburyport:
Focus Publishing, 2003. Print.
I believe that due to morals other religions and the natural act of someone dying proves to be enough not to agree with Epictetus’. Based on other people’s religious beliefs and their moral values I do not think Epictetus’ views on death and grieving apply to everyone. Someone who believes in a certain religion is going to follow what that religion calls for when it comes to dealing with death. On the other hand, some may also have set values that call for accepting the death as is and follow the grieving process. I feel that the grieving process is not someone’s choice. I think that grieving is an instinct. The first thing that came to my mind when I lost a loved one was, no way this is real and why me. I believe that everyone grieves to a certain extent because of the instinct that his or her mind
Is it possible to live without fear of death? If you can, does it change your life and who you are as a whole? Lindqvist believes so. Early in the book he proposes the idea that with fear of death life has a deeper meaning. That only with the fear of death do...
The argument that the Epicureans fabricate in order to refute the negativity of death is alluring but ultimately dysfunctional. The foundation disintegrates in a wave of implausibility, allowing for the possibility that the ultimate consequence of death could potentially be bad for a person. Even hedonism, teeming with pleasure, cannot cast off the iron chains of death. For Epicureans, it may be the only obstruction to the plausibility of ataraxia. Death itself carries no negative impact on hedonistic individuals, but “he fears death not because it will be painful when present but because it is painful in anticipation” (LS 150).
The differences of mind and soul have intrigued mankind since the dawn of time, Rene Descartes, Thomas Nagel, and Plato have addressed the differences between mind and matter. Does the soul remain despite the demise of its material extension? Is the soul immaterial? Are bodies, but a mere extension of forms in the physical world? Descartes, Nagel, and Plato agree that the immaterial soul and the physical body are distinct entities.
He begins by looking at the very common views of death that are held by most people in the world, and tells us that he will talk of death as the "unequivocal and permanent end to our existence" and look directly at the nature of death itself (1). The first view that
Marcus Aurelius' book Meditations gives a clear and concise view of what death is and how man should cope with it. There are many factors that Marcus must take into account when he is pondering about death. There is death on a physical plane of existence and there is death on a supernatural plane of existence. How man is related to both of these concepts can differ drastically but both are equally important concepts in man's view of death. The way that man approaches death and how he should view it in life are other factors that also play an important role in Marcus' philosophy of death.
“The truth is that the body and the temperament are an accidental cause of the soul, for when the matter of a body suitable to become the instrument of the soul and its proper subject comes into existence, the separate causes bring into being the individual soul, and that is how the soul originates from them” (Avicenna
According to Ernest Becker, “The main thesis of this book is that it explains: the idea of death, the fear of death that haunts humans like nothing else; the mainspring of human activity designed to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man” (“Becker” ix). The author of this book describes and quotes many other psychological thinkers views on the different kinds of fear and what contributes to the fear of death in man. The author explores several topics like self-worth, heroism, fear, anxiety, depression and many other issues throughout this book.
Socrate explains the fear of death to be irrational, as it would be ignorant to think that death was the greatest of evils and not consider it to possibly be the greatest blessing to mankind. He believes that death is either lead to and process much like sleep in which the sleeper doesn 't dream, or another in which it is like a trip where all dead souls are traveling from one place to another in which they all meet. Ultimately Socrate believes the truth to be that a good man would have no fear of what is after death as nothing can or will hurt a good man. Socrate 's view that fear of death being irrational is fair, despite arguments can be made on whether their is a heaven or hell, or an afterlife. The true argument doesn 't revolve around
...d as nonmaterial and accordingly it does not follow the laws of nature. Descartes states, “as regards body in particular, we have only the notion of extension, which entails the notions of shape and motion; and as regards the soul on its own, we have only the notion of thought, which includes the perceptions of the intellect and the inclinations of the will (AT III 665: CSMK 218).” Therefore, Descartes is elaborating that the soul is an extension of the mind, and further distinguishes the notions of the body, as a physical entity, and the soul, as something notable through thought and perception. Furthermore, the mind is influenced through perception of physical and external features and the body reacts accordingly to Though he laid the groundwork for these beliefs in the 1630s, they are still prominent and controversial topics today and have yet to be invalidated.
When people ponder death they wonder about the unknown with trepidation. As a young man, William Cullen Bryant wrote the "Thanatopsis." His thoughts progress from the fear of death to the acceptance of the event. People should not fear death because everyone dies and becomes a part of nature.
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
Overall, I believe that Epicurus's view on the mortality of the soul and the fear of death are very plausible and hold up well under scrutiny. His basic principles on the topic are believable and well supported even if some of the premises are rejected or modified. To me, this is an argument that is not difficult to understand, but can be used even in modern discussions of the soul and death.
Intro : Introduce the concept of death, and how the concept of death is shown to be something to be feared
Throughout the evolution of philosophic thought, there have been many different views on the relationship of mind and body. The great philosopher Plato and the Neoplatonists held the belief that man's body is merely a prison of his soul, but St. Augustine later refutes this with his idea of the disembodied soul. He distinguishes between the concept of the physical form and the spiritual soul, and he argues that humankind can be redeemed because of the God spirit contained in the intellectual soul. This intellectual soul is not an inseparable part of the body, as St. Thomas Aquinas postulates. Instead, this soul is indeed the higher part of man, the state and well-being of man depends upon its stability.