¶ … believing that death means nothing to us, since every good and every evil lies in sensation; but death is the privation of sensation. Hence a correct comprehension of the fact that death means nothing to us makes the mortal aspect of life pleasurable, not be conferring on us a boundless period of time but by removing the yearning for deathlessness. There is nothing fearful in living for the person who has really laid hold of the fact that there is nothing fearful in not living. So it is silly for a person to say that he dreads death -- not because it will be painful when it arrives but because it pains him now as a future certainty; for that which makes no trouble for us when it arrives is a meaningless pain when we await it. This, the most horrifying of evils, means nothing to us, then, because so long as we are existent death is not present and whenever it is present we are nonexistent. Thus it is of no concern either to the living or to those who have completed their lives. For the former it is nonexistent, and the latter are themselves nonexistent" (LD, p. 49-50)
These remarks encapsulate Epicurus's views on our attitudes towards death. What argument does he provide for why we should not fear death? What is the ethical purpose of this argument for how we should live our lives? Do you agree with Epicurus's views? Why or why not?
To Epicurus, "death should mean nothing to us" since it is a nonexistent entity in that, with cessation of life, our atoms disintegrate into nothing. As Epicurus more succinctly states (p.53: 1-5; 2): "Death means nothing to us because that which has been broken down into atoms has no sensation and that which has no sensation is no concern of ours." We become non-existent, our mortality subsides. Death, in its essence, is the opposite of life. There is no living, there is no fear, and there is no sensation. Since the essence of death is, therefore, a nothingness, we are rid of fear and all sensation and become a 'nothingness' too. And, consequently, argues Epicurean, we have nothing to fear since we will be reduced...
I would set aside the death sentences imposed as violative of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments." ("Top 10 Pros and Cons," 2012) This is significant, in showing how the use of the death penalty is considered to be a violation of the basic civil rights that are provided to everyone. Conclusion of why we should abolish The main reason why opponents are arguing that the death penalty should be abolished is
Death and Dying 'My new body was weightless and extremely mobile, and I was fascinated by my new state of being. Although I had felt pain from the surgery only moments before, I now felt no discomfort at all. I was whole in every way -- perfect," (Eadie "Embraced" 30). In her groundbreaking book Embraced by the Light, Betty J. Eadie writes about her own near-death experience to help dispel the
…there was light-heartedness, friendship, and hope…they were the memories of a love for a woman. Then all became confused and there was still less of what was good; later on again there was still less that was good, and the further he went the less there was. His marriage, a mere accident, then the disenchantment that followed it... (Tolstoy, 1886, 29-30). He realizes that all the while he thought he was
Death Penalty Whether or not the death penalty should be utilized as a punishment for serious crimes is a contentious issue, one that is hotly debated throughout the world. In the past few decades the number of nations that sentence criminals to the death penalty has dramatically decreased, as more than two thirds of countries in the world have abolished the use of the death penalty in practice or law (Amnesty
Death and Dying in "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" Death is a common theme in poetry and has been written about and personified throughout history. Among some of the most recognizable poems that deal with the subject are "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," by Dylan Thomas (1951), and "Because I Could Not Stop for Death," by Emily Dickinson
Moreover, in Perry v. Louisiana, 498 U.S. 38 (1990), the Court used that decision to bolster Louisiana's attempts to forcibly medicate a prisoner in order to make him death-eligible. If one agrees that the death penalty is a just penalty for one who has committed a capital crime, and that the reason that mentally ill defendants should not be executed is because they lack competence, then it does not
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