Why Is Bernard Williams Fear Of Death Is A Necessary Evil

To one, is Death an end or a beginning? Is it a friend or foe? Vivian Bearing knows her death is inevitable, but that doesn’t keep her

Death is something that will eventually occur to everyone and everything, because it is a part of life. There are things that can be done to delay it, but it is not possible to prevent it. Part Two of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is called “Death.” There are some unfortunate events that occur, including the funeral of Henrietta Lacks and the death of Ivy. These two events changed the Lacks family for the better and the worst. These two events were some that they could never forget.

When someone dies, people assume that the purpose for that life dies as well. But this is not true. Mary Roach expresses in her book “Stiff” that once one’s life ends, their potential for usefulness does not. Death simply means the passing away of an organism. And as Mary Roach explains it, “Death. It doesn’t have to be boring.” (Page 11, Roach)

Bernard Williams Markopoulos case focuses on the topic of immortality, and the issues that arise from the status of being immortal. Williams uses the concept of the play to refute the idea of immortality. This is due to the end of the Markopoulos play, where the immortal protagonist kills themselves out of the unbearable boredom of exhausting their categorical desires. Whereas Fischer rejects Williams view of immortality, due to the limiting constraints of his argument. Fischer asserts the immortal life would be livable, because it reflects a mortal life. In effect, I will further Fischer’s argument on the basis that an immortal life would be livable, on the account of packaged and repeatable goods. Therefore, this essay will explain the

In “Lives of the Dead”, O’Brien’s own innocence is preserved through the memory of Linda, a memory that remains untarnished by the inevitable corruption that results from life. O’Brien’s writings “save Linda’s life. Not her body--her life” (236). Storytelling and memories preserve the value of Linda’s existence while simultaneously allowing O’Brien to process death and destruction in a way that maintains a degree of optimism regarding his own life and future. Juxtaposing the images of body and life emphasizes his desire to save the idea of Linda while accepting the loss of her physical presence. O’Brien rejects the idea of death as absolute and final; instead he suggests that “once you are alive, you can never be dead” (244). Linda’s death solidifies her importance in O’Brien’s own development; she teaches him about life and real love as much as in death as in life. O’Brien’s paradoxical statement defines the lasting impact of Linda on him; her presence in his stories keeps her alive through memory; memories that even her death

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

When so much of one’s life is left up to chance, it is nice to know that one can find certainty in death. Whereas life can be moulded to perfection and death is a guarantee, there is no way to tell what one will face following death. There are millions of different cultures, religions, and individual beliefs pertaining to the afterlife, but a definitive answer will never be known. The works of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson express two very unique interpretations of death and what follows. Both Whitman’s and Dickinson’s views of death include an idea of an afterlife, or of a continuation of the soul post death, but where Whitman welcomes the idea of demise without a trace of fear and his overall view of death is more mystical, Dickinson has a negative view of death and, at times, questions the possibility of an afterlife entirely.

In the play “Wit,” by Margaret Edson, the reader is challenged with the complex ideas of character development following the imminent shadow of death. Edson focuses this concept amongst the character Vivian bearing; the disciplined, witty, and quite frankly cold hearted protagonist. The play starts with us seeing Vivian receiving her diagnosis; stage IV ovarian cancer, with her being in the final stage. The persistent and impending idea of death encourages Vivian to reconsider what is truly critical in obtaining happiness, while influencing her to reconsider her past unfavorable actions. As human beings we are attuned to resolve conflicts, so when an inevitable circumstances arise an individual will often consider their past actions and attempt to find what is of true importance in the quest to find happiness in their present life, allowing them to be content.

Around the world, people of all cultures, religions, and so on, each acquired their own beliefs on unique aspects of spirituality, and the life of a human and what happens after life on the planet. Though most people believe in a universal definition of life as being joyful, fruitful, and a positive subject, death, on the other hand, has numerous definitions between each person. Some people consider death to be morbid, horrifying, and a negative thing, whereas others celebrate death and believe that their soul will live forever. Each of the countless observations of life and death are portrayed in diverse types of literature. One contributor and writer of such literature includes Emily Dickinson. In her poems “Because I Could Not Stop for

* Krishna pointed out that most people are afraid of death, and that the ignorance described previously is what preventing them from achieving immortality. Only those who have realized that the impermanent has no reality and the reality lies in the eternal; and have seen the boundary between these two would have attained the end of all knowledge. (Bahagavad Gita 2.15)

Mortality is the inevitable flaw of humankind and is the thing that everything must eventually succumb to. Mortality itself is a recurring theme in many works of literature throughout the years, often in comparison to time and nature.

The fear of death is arguably the most unwarranted of all fears. Most individuals can find a way to temporarily put death to the side or behind them, however in the long run, death is inescapable. Time is what makes death indestructible because in reality time only moves in one direction. Some may say that it only moves forward, but there is only one reason for which time comes to a stop and that is death. In Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Blanche DuBois’ sexual desire produces the idea that desire results in death.

In order to understand why we should not fear death, its important to analyze what it could be. There are only two conceivable possibilities; either we move on to some afterlife, or simply cease to exist (43 c). The former suggests that the conscious mind lives on after death. Most people hope for this possibility as it is not a true death, rather a continuation of life.

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

This essay will address the theme of death in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12 (1609) and George Herbert’s poem Virtue (1633). Both Shakespeare and Herbert explore notions of death in their poems, in terms of the tension between the psychical and the spiritual in a religious context. However, where they differ is that Shakespeare places emphasis on the importance of the corporeal, and of what is left behind on earth after death. In contrast, Herbert focuses on the impermanence of the physical, instead advocating a focus on the eternal life of the soul in heaven.