preview

State Of Mortality Research Paper

Decent Essays

Mortality is an interesting topic of discussion. Defined as “the state of being subject to death,” it is something that arguably all living things have to face due to their sheer existence. The moment we are brought into this world we are given the great gift of life – and its feared counterpart, death. To this day there seems to be no way of escaping it, and is often referred to as one of the only two certainties in life by revered leaders and philosophers alike. “Tis impossible to be sure of any thing, but Death and Taxes,” Christopher Bullock wrote in his book, The Cobbler of Preston, back in 1716. The sentiment has been echoed through many since, such as by President Benjamin Franklin in 1789 and author Edward Ward in 1724. But even those …show more content…

One can argue that human creations too have a sense of mortality, due to the fact that they can go from a state of functioning to a state of being broken, and that many of our creations have a so-called “lifecycle” embedded into them. Many of our creations – such as the machines, computers and programs they run – are often characterized by the two states of being functional and non-functional. In many ways, these two states mirror the mortality we are subject to as living creatures. When we are living, we are functional. Our hearts beat and pump blood through our veins, our limbs and extremities serve us to the best of their ability, and our minds operate as they do. When we are dead, our physical bodies are non-functional, therefore lifeless. When a machine is functional, it does its designed tasks. When it is broken, it cannot complete its designed tasks. But can we call it dead? Does it have true mortality? Modern day philosopher Shelly Kagan would say no, and make the argument that our thought process so far is overlooking a crucial missing puzzle piece. Stating, “no mere machine can feel pain, see red, or feel joy. Machines can do the behavioral stuff, but no merely physical object can have this qualitative aspect of experience. But we have it. So we are no mere physical objects. We are no mere machines.” To Kagan, the qualitative aspects define our

Get Access