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Death essay by thomas nagel summary
Philosophical checklist of the essay death by thomas nagel
Philosophical checklist of the essay death by thomas nagel
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Thomas Nagel’s
Thoughts on
Death
Is death an evil thing no matter what the circumstances might be? Does it really matter when death happens or how long we take to get there? These are questions I asked myself over the years as I have gotten older and have seen family members die. To me at least, Thomas Nagel has answered my questions. In Nagel’s project he asks the question if death is an evil thing. Setting aside any ideas of an afterlife or the soul still existing after death he states this: “If death is an evil at all, it cannot be because of its positive features, but only because of what it deprives us of.” (p. 113) Which means that death is indeed a bad thing to a person because it takes away all the good things that that person
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Death had taken away the happiness and joy that my mother would have had to not only see my sister one last time, but also my two other brothers that had not made it there yet. Nagel has opened my eyes to the fact that we may be sad to see love ones pass away, but to them it is so much more a devastating thing to them because they are the ones leaving us behind and would give anything to just have one more day, one more hour, or even just two more minutes to say goodbye to a loved one before they …show more content…
Epicurus says: “Accustom yourself to believe that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply awareness, and death is the privation of all awareness; therefore, a right understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life an unlimited time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality.” (p.103) What he is saying is that since death is nothing, it should make your life more enjoyable and to live in the here and now and not worry about the hereafter. He also argues this point: “Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer.” (p.103-104) When you are alive death does not matter to you because you are breathing and living, even when you are on your deathbed you are still here, still alive so death does not matter. And once you are gone, death still doesn’t matter to you because you no longer exist as a person so the fear of death is a foolish thing to have. This is a big difference between the two philosophers on their outlook on the nature of death. For myself, I tend to agree far more with Nagel’s writings because of my personal experiences from last year and from what I saw as my mother’s life vanished wanting just one more
Mortality, the subject of death, has been a curious topic to scholars, writers, and the common man. Each with their own opinion and beliefs. My personal belief is that one should accept mortality for what it is and not go against it.
In the beginning of Death, Nagel presented the question of whether it is a bad thing to die. He furnished two positions on the subject. The first position is that life is all one possesses and to lose life is the greatest loss one can encounter. The second position is that death is a blank, not an unimaginable condition, that has no positive or negative value whatsoever. Stating his aim to be considering whether death is in itself an evil, Nagel clarified that the state of being dead, or nonexistent, is not in itself evil for several reasons. First, death is not an evil that one is able to accumulate more of. A person cannot receive a larger portion of death no matter how long they have been in that state. Secondly, one would not regard temporary life suspension as harmful. In the case of long-term suspended animation or freezing, one can view this as a continuation of their present life. Thirdly, few people regard the long period of time before their birth as a misfortune. From these points, Nagel concluded that humanity does not object to death because it involves indeterminable periods of nonexistence. He then proposed that if death is an evil at all, it can only be because of what it deprives us of, since it has no positive features. He did not, however, agree with the idea that death is bad because it brings an end to all the good things in life. Nagel formulated that if all good and bad life experiences were removed, what i...
“You will surely grant and concede to me, that nothing more pernicious and fearful can happen to anyone than the loss of his soul.” (38).
E.M.’s feelings about her life suggest that death is not a terrible thing not only in the obvious cases - where death ends pain and suffering. Death can be viewed positively in that it prevents life from continuing for too long. This implies two views of death that can refute its being inherently bad: the first being that death is not evil because it is the end of only one life and the beginning of another, a spiritual idea. The second view being that death is not evil because it is an absolute end to life. The second view, utter annihilation, appeals to the Epi...
William Penn, an English philosopher and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, once said that, “For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.” He is saying that death is not the end of our lives, but just another stage. In the poem “Holy Sonnet 10” by John Donne, the poet talks to death itself and gives his opinion on his view of death and others’ views: it is something that cannot control anything, can be replaced by others things, and is not the end of a person’s life. Through the use of his figurative language, Petrachan form, and tone and language, Mr. Donne expresses the message that death is not to be feared because one lives on in heaven.
Death as a weak entity that has no real power, because after we die, we
...n’t view death as damnation so such as a continuation of life on Earth. (Hause, 2001, pg. 15)
person lives the more apparent the truth of demise. With birth comes pain; with living comes
“Death is the greatest gift you never want to receive. It is the great equalizer of mankind. For death knows no name, no race, no social class or status. It is the only way man to enjoy a meaningful existence. For if there were no death, there would be no meaning” by Dan McDaniel. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Death is consistent throughout the book. Death is found throughout the book as an equalizer, it shows that despite people's thoughts that they are better than one another, or that they will not die until they believe that they are ready, however, that is wrong. Death, in this book, does not discriminate, does not wait, and does not care about human-made hierarchies.
Nagel properly, although confusingly, makes his argument as to why death should not be feared. In Nagel's argument, he seems to be refuting his conclusion and stating all the reasons to how death is bad and evil. Nagel then refutes all of these arguments very simply with his listings of examples. Nagel describes death as being that the person who is dead does not feel anything and is considered to be a pit of nothingness, that person has nothing to be afraid of. Nagel very carefully steers away from the discussion of immortality or life after death and just refers to death as simple nonexistence. This nonexistence means that the person who is dead cannot possibly feel upset or vengeful about being dead, but only those whom are alive can. This brings in the argument of death not being bad for the person who is dead, but death being bad for those who are still alive witnessing and living through the death of this
In Thomas Nagel’s “Death,” he questions whether death is a bad thing, if it is assumed that death is the permanent end of our existence. Besides addressing whether death is a bad thing, Nagel focuses on whether or not it is something that people should be fearful of. He also explores whether death is evil. Death is defined as permanent death, without any form of consciousness, while evil is defined as the deprivation of some quality or characteristic. In his conclusion, he reaffirms that conscious existence ends at death and that there is no subject to experience death and death ultimately deprives a person of life. Therefore, he states that Death actually deprives a person of conscious existence and the ability to experience. The ability to experience is open ended and future oriented. If a person cannot permanently experience in the future, it is a bad or an evil. A person is harmed by deprivation. Finally, he claims that death is an evil and a person is harmed even though the person does not experience the harm.
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
...ningham, and Reich 40). In addition, it pays no respect to one’s material status. Death, as depicted, also takes no notice of ones beauty and knowledge. Due to these reasons, death is greatly feared for it is considered a tragedy.
3rd Paragraph – Famous Soliliquy Negating his initial beliefs in death, does not kill himself in the uncertainty of death and stops believing
In my life time, I have experienced many deaths. I have never had anyone that was very close to me die, but I have shed tears over many deaths that I knew traumatically impacted the people that I love. The first death that influenced me was the death of my grandfather. My grandfather passed away when I was very young, so I never really got the chance to know him. My papaw Tom was my mothers dad, and she was very upset after his passing. Seeing my mom get upset caused me to be sad. The second death that influenced my life was the death of my great grandmother. My great grandmother was a very healthy women her whole life. When she was ninety three she had