Epicureans: A Debate Essay

Death is the most inevitable and unknown aspect of life. It is unescapable, and by most of today’s population, it is feared in the utmost regard. Our materialistic views and constant desertion of religious ideals has forced our society to view death as an ultimate end. Socrates and St. Augustine’s views on death differ from many views on the subject in 2017, however, for their time, these men had the power to influence a plethora of individuals with their theories. For Socrates, death should never be feared and should be considered a blessing if our souls were to ascend to heaven, or death could be an extensive slumber without any dreaming whatsoever. With

Many people seem to fear death, but philosophers such as Socrates and Epicurus would argue that one has no reason to fear it. Socrates sees death as a blessing to be wished for if death is either nothingness or a relocation of the soul, whereas Epicurus argues that one shouldn't worry themselves about death since, once we are gone, death is annihilation which is neither good nor bad. Epicurus believes that death itself is a total lack of perception, wherein there is no pleasure or pain. I agree with Epicurus because Socrates doesn't give a sound argument for death as a blessing, whereas Epicurus' argument is cogent. I would also argue personally that death is not something to be feared because, like Epicurus, I see no sufficient evidence

In order to keep the world in line and in balance death has to occur. The world is one perfect place where everything is done for a reason as proposed in the line “Just as a target is not set up to be missed, in the same way nothing bad by nature happens in the world” (Hackett, 61). This is citing that the earth, as a whole is good, and that, in the grand scheme of things, nothing compares to the awesome power of the nature of our world. Another example of how perpetual our world is is the line “Remember that you are an actor in a play, which is as the playwright wants it to be,” which distinguishes us as being sort of like puppets (Hackett, 59). In this sense, unknown forces control us and these forces determine our life or our death. We have no control over this so there is no point in worrying about it. Ideas like this are not needed for survival and are merely just wants. As Epictetus says, “You are foolish if you want your children and your wife and your friends to live forever since you are wanting things to be up to you that are not up to you” (Hackett, 58). This is clearly pointing out exactly what we aren’t to do. Death is unknowable to us and we shouldn’t concern ourselves with what we cant

In this paper, I will argue that the Mind-Brain Identity Theory provides sufficient grounds to accept Epicurus’ argument for death being annihilation. I will argue my thesis by referring to Peter Carruthers’ The Mind Is the Brain to establish that one’s mental states are in fact brain states and will also refer to Epicurus’ Death is Nothing to Us. Next, I will explain that if one accepts the Identity Theory then one should also accept, as Epicurus argues, that death should not be feared, for it is annihilation. I will conclude by refuting objections to the Identity Theory and the Epicurean argument on death.

Death is unescapable. Humans will forever share the experience of living here on earth to departing into the unknown. When analyzing the arts of the early civilizations such as ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and Greece, a common aspect is the ancient people’s response to human mortality, which is the idea that life should be fully cherished.

     Epictetus represents a myriad of concepts. One concept of which being that one should live with the awareness of human imperfection and finitude. He expresses the sentiment that one is able to relinquish the

Death is defined as the end of life; the cessation of all vital functions in an organism indicated by a loss of heartbeat, breathing and brain activity. Although this translation is more than adequate, technical references to death and dying fail to capture the essence and impact of our eternal and inevitable demise. In every era in human history, cultures have exhibited fascination in death and the afterlife. All over the globe nations practice rituals and ceremonies for their recently deceased loved ones, while other unclaimed cadavers are thrown into incinerators like useless waste material. As human beings, we all face the uncomfortable and unavoidable fact that, someday, our life will come to an end. Nonetheless, the primary hurdle that still remains is fully understanding what it means to die - which is perhaps one area of inquisition that science fails to complete.

1. Epicurus states that death is nothing to us because when analyzing his concept he believes that we as human beings should not fear death. Epicurus argues his concept that human beings should not fear death due to the fact that death in fact is neither pain nor pleasure. As stated in the text Epicurus Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus says “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”. In other words, instead of viewing death as something we should constantly think and fear of, fully understanding death can change one’s perspective of life to be more pleasant.

This philosophy is known as the Epicurean philosophy. Although Lucretius is very straightforward about his beliefs on how the world is created, he offers this philosophy as a personal remedy to soothe people who are afraid to die. In a way, this act is similar to Socrates’ idea of comforting his friends while he approached his death. Although the two famous philosophers both had completely different ideas about life and death, they both tried to soothe their audience about death in their own way. The Epicurean philosophy focuses on two aspects; hedonism and materialism.

Death is the destruction or permanent end of something such as life. Many people fear death more than dying itself. In Apology, Socrates argued that “the good person need not fear death”. Death is a state of nothingness as per Socrates. He stated clearly that “death is an “undisturbed sleep”.

Epicurus believes pleasure is the greatest good because it is the only way to completely fulfill ones life on this earth. Epicurus is inclined to philosophize in this way as he believed that there was no after life or immortal soul, leading pleasure full self-fulfillment to be the only rational conclusion for the greatest good on earth. To comprehend Epicurus’ pursuit of pleasure one needs to understand that his version of hedonism is not full of lavish indulgences that have

Death and the value of life According to Epicurus death is nothing to us. His claim is not only that we should not fear death as much as we do, but that any fear of death is irrational. Death cannot touch the victim as, by the time death is here, the victim is gone. Epicurus' argument has fascinated philosophers for centuries and has inspired a fruitful literature about the badness of death in the last decades.

The notion of death puts many things in perspective. Or even better, death has too much power to modify any perspective.

Epicurus believed that the individuals must be tranquil and prepared for the afterlife living a good life. The good life is composed of

With the first question asking, What is Death? The question is a strong one and the answers can be nihilistic or religious. Most of the students answered with a familiar answer, death is when your life ends, when the soul exits the body, or organs have stopped and the majority of cells have died. But to most Philosophers, death is considered the worst evil. Sophocles is contrary to that belief, as he believes that the worst evil is that of when one wishes to die, but cannot (Written in his play,