Why Do We Know Death?

It is inevitable that we will all die it is a fact that everyone must come to terms with. There comes a time in everyone’s life that they must face death; a friend’s tragic accident, a family member’s passing or their own battles with diseases. When faced with the idea of death people will act in different ways some may find it therapeutic to apologize for the negative they have done, some may want to spend time with loved ones to ease the future pain, and others may decide that their life was not what they believed. The story Death Constant Beyond Love tells us about a man named Senator Sanchez who is living a happy life with his wife and five kids. That is until he is told by doctors that he only has a short time to live. Death is

The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” (Mark Twain). This quote from the famous American writer is the basis for what became one of the hardest ideas to comprehend, death. Death has always been a complex term, causing one to struggle with what the true definition is. It is also hard to wrap your mind around what does it truly mean to die. These are the questions we long for the answer. Whether we acknowledge it or not, death has always been feared by many. Death remains an impossible question, one that has been unexplained since beginning of time. Even though dying is a natural, we as a human race still fear it. What can be done to defeat this never-ending battle? According to Montaigne’s “To Philosophize is to Learn to Die” and Cory Taylor’s “Questions for Me About Dying” we can overcome this by living to the fullest, living with no regrets, living a legacy, and lastly not fearing the inevitable. If you want to conquer the question of life, live in the moment.

That’s the thing about death: it sneaks up and robs a person of their life, taking away all of their happiness. People indulge themselves in the idea of fearing death rather than facing it. Death is an unknown territory where no survivors have ever came back to share their experience. The US Army Private, Roy Scranton’s article “Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene” shines hope where he explains how fear can be conquered if the idea of dying is accepted. It is fear that paralyzes people from moving toward the idea of death. If people started to embrace the present, they will understand the inevitability of death and start discrediting fear.

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

Death is something that has been contemplated for years and years, but what is it really? Why does it even happen? Is there any way to delay or stop it? There is no clear answer but speculation has led to

Sometimes the person returns to a previous stage. Death is emotional and it is natural to experience emotions. It would also have a psychological affect on an individual as knowing you’re going to die may be frightening.

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.

Death is the terminating factor of all living organisms in the human body. Examples of these functions includes malnutrition, disease, suicide/homicide, starvation/dehydration, etc. Sadly, shortly after these tragic accidents the bodies living organisms starts to decompose, causing family members to grief and be in pain.

We found professor Shelly Kagan insightful and full of an odd optimism because death does not have to mean and end or a beginning but a process through living. The best example that comes to mind is when an animal sheds it’s skin or a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Death is a transformation of the human body, releasing the human spirit which is energy after

“Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore, nor actual difficulty in our life,” said Suzuki (Suzuki, Part II, pg 92). This quote by Suzuki, suggests that our society has thanatophobia (fear of death and dying). Why are we so terrified of dying? We often see people contributing to senseless life styles simply because they are too afraid to die to their insignificant selves. We constantly partake in unhealthy actions simply because we fail to recognize that there is a beauty in dying. This type of beauty is special because through these mini-deaths we renew ourselves to something better. In dying, we abolish our small minds and opens to a meaningful state of mind, the “Big Mind” as Suzuki calls it. It’s necessary that we die to our egotistic desires so that we can move towards self-actualization and become free. We ought to start by ridding ourselves of ignorance, selfishness, and vindictive ways so that we can renew ourselves through meaningful practices such being more aware, accepting, and rational.

“Death” is an uncertain term for those who are living. As it happens once for one life, you can never experience it for a second time. The process of dying seems too quick and sudden that we cannot even realize we are passing away. Furthermore, the grief and pain of the last moment on Earth drench infinite terror in us. We saw many different kinds of deaths, such as drowning, burning, stoning, car crashing, die of natural causes, and so on. The magnitude of death varied, from dying peacefully in sleep to tortured to death physically or even mentally. However, there are ways to conquer this fear. First of all, death comes fast, so just think you are having an injection and it will be over. In the second place, think more positively towards dying peacefully in soundly sleeps and you will be fine.

The Epicurean approach to death is simple, “death is nothing to us” (Epicurus, 1) In short, “with the living it is not, and the dead exist no longer.” (Epicurus, 1) This fact can be comforting to think about because

Although most people hope to die quickly and without warning and in their sleep; in reality for people experience a death that is: lingering, draw out and with plenty of forewarning, most likely of a chronic illness.

The relationship we share with death is certainly an intricate one. Our humanity is deeply rooted in our mortality and yet most people seem to fear death the most. I maintain that this fear is ill-advised as death is not misfortunate, for we do not experience it nor can it deprive us of anything. This belief is congruent with those of ancient philosopher, Epicurus, and modern philosopher, Rosenbaum, who both agree that the fear of death is irrational. In this paper, I will cover how my death pertains to their ideas of death through critical examination of the issues of experience, deprivation, and time.

The Tibetan Science of Death explains that a person who understands that death is inevitable will become more focused on religion. Individuals who understand that all life forms will eventually die come to the realization to not sweat the small stuff as every minute counts. Buddhism emphasizes the importance of comprehending death, as death is what has encouraged individuals to realize concerns and pleasures. There are many different theories as what death is actually defined as. The scientific explanation of death is when an individual’s heart and brain activity has stopped.