The Makropulos Case Analysis

The deprivation account of death can illustrate the opposing view, which death is bad if the person who is to die loses out on the “good” things in life. This idea of deprivation brings us back to E.M. and her long life of boredom. Williams uses the term categorical desires to describe those accomplishments in life that one typically strives for, usually through inherently motivating factors. This is contrasted by contingent desires, those ephemeral or fleeting desires that are sought to achieve immediate gratification. One reason E.M. may have been entirely dissatisfied with her only three hundred and forty two years life (short lived when discussing immortality) could be that she subconsciously decided she no longer held desires that life could provide. Death was not “bad” for her because she had already accomplished all she had wanted to, and had no more desires to fulfill that death would interrupt. If anything, this confirms that death is relatively good if one has run out of entertaining prospects in their life. The inverse is true as well under the deprivation account: that death is bad if one is still in the process of achieving desires. Pushing the idea further, it does appear that immortality is a positive thing when an

Malik Reyna-Mclemore Paper One Topic; Susan Wolf Phil 2310: Meaning of Life Professor LaMendola Fall 2017 Susan R. Wolf (born 1952) is a moral philosopher who works extensively on the meaning of human life and is the Edna J. Koury Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wolf addresses the questions of the meaning of life in hope to distinguish the characteristics and reasoning that gives meaning to life. According to Susan Wolf view about the meaning in life, “I would say that meaningful life are lives of active engagement in projects of worth… two key phrases, ‘active engagement’ and ‘projects of worth’” (Wolf, 205). However, I believe that her proposal leaves out our basic motives and reasoning that’s

This is greatly illustrated in the book "Monkey" where the Monkey King mentions his desire to live forever at numerous points.

In her book Meaning in Life and Why it Matters, Susan Wolf does not focus on this perennial question people have been asking over the vast confusion of human history rather she gazes her view at the question of how people seek and maintain meaningful lives. Seeking of meaningful life poses the question of motives that has driven us to engage in. Wolf judges the answer from philosophical point of view. Utilitarianism, a paradigm of teleological theory, accepts pleasure as the ultimate meaning of life. J. S. Mill argues, ‘pleasure and freedom from pain are the only things that are desirable as ends, and that everything that is desirable at all is so either for the pleasure inherent in it or as means to the promotion of pleasure and the prevention of pain’ [1863:10] Man demands and pursues the supreme good which comprises both virtue and happiness. Mill’s uses of the term pleasure confined it only in this physical world. Kant, on the other hand, uses it even after death. Virtue and pleasure, duty and inclination, are, according to Kant, heterogeneous notions. Their unity cannot be achieved within the narrow span of our life in this world. We, therefore, conceive immortal life for us. Hence, we seek pleasure not only in this material world, but also in the super sensible world as it is

Immortality has been made into this ultimate goal. Literature and films have often painted immortality as a gift only given to the few who have proven themselves worthy of it. A life full of great wisdom, experience, and many other joys. In Journey to the West, it opens up with

This is due to the consistency of their individual characteristics remaining the same for so many years. Problematically, Williams asserts the immortal life would be undesirable, or unlivable since we will inevitably exhaust our categorical desires.

Confronting Death By biological logic, we human beings will face death sooner or later in our life and death has its very own ways to approach us - a sudden deadly strike, a critical sickness, a tragic accident, a prolonged endurance of brutal treatment, or just an aging biological end. To deal with the prospect of death come different passive or active reactions; some may be scared and anxious to see death, some try to run away from it, and some by their own choice make death come faster. But Viktor Frankl, through his work Man’s Search for Meaning, and Bryan Doyle; in his essay “His Last Game” show us choices to confront the death, bring it to our deepest feelings, meaningful satisfaction. To me, the spirit of the prisoners at deadly concentration camps, Frankl’s Logotherapy theory of “. . . striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man.” (99), as well as the calmness of Doyle’s brother on his last ride, like an awaken bell, remind us of how precious life is, how we should find the significance in every act of living, determine to live a meaningful life at any circumstances; hence, when death comes, we can accept it without anxiety nor regrets.

Within all these theoretical standpoints, the theme and process of coming to terms with death and relationship could be regarded as the essence of an existential quest; one

In this paper, I will first elaborate on my understanding of Thomas Nagel’s theory as to why death, a permanent nonexistent state, is an undesirable state of being. I will then argue as to why I believe that death is a misfortune using the argument that death terminates the positive experience of life as well as rebut the counter-argument for why death is good because it gives meaning to life.

Again, in this chapter, Huxley brings forward the theme of choice and pain as essential parts of human life. If all obstacles are removed, as Mond says, if no one feels passion or pain, what kind of human life is possible? At this point in the

Fear of Death: Why We Shouldn’t Have It When Socrates was on trial in Plato’s Apology: Defense of Socrates, he mentioned that it was irrational to fear death. The main reason Socrates made this claim was because we do not know what death is and for all we know it might even be a great thing (Apology 29a). In this essay, I will argue in agreement with Socrates’ claims. It is irrational to fear death not only because of these claims that Socrates made, but also for the reason that the fear of death can put a burden on ourselves in everyday life. In some cases, the fear of death can obscure the ways we make decisions in our lives. If we fear death, which is unknown, and we fear other things that are unknown, then we will probably live life being

The play Everyman may have been written many years ago, but its lessons are still relevant today. Generally, the facts of death are very traumatizing and in fact unthinkable. This leads the modern day Everyman to ignore its significance, dying without acknowledging or reflecting on their lives here on earth. It is based on this fact that this paper aims to show the position of the author of the play “Everyman” regarding death.

Hopeless and Absurd - Existentialism and Buddhism Perhaps the most telling symptom of existentialist philosophers is their ever-divergent theories on the fundamental characteristics of human life and their steadfast refusal to assign an explicit meaning or reason to our existence at all. Contrary to criticism which therefore labels the movement cynically nihilistic, existentialism justifies life with reasoning similar to that of Zen Buddhism. Specifically, the notions of hopelessness and absurdity can be gleaned from Buddhism in a manner helpful to the understanding of existentialist viewpoints on the same.

This is due to the consistency of their individual characteristics remaining the same for so many years. Problematically, William’s asserts, the immortal life would be undesirable, or unlivable since we will inevitably exhaust our categorical desires.

Sartre attested that the human being is a useless passion due to our insatiable desires. Markedly, human beings desire to retain the infinite and that need is simply impossible. For the search for the unlimited is tiresome and unappeasable.