Title

Death

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Abstract

This article considers several questions concerning death and its ramifications. First, what constitutes death? It is clear enough that people die when their lives end, but less clear what constitutes the ending of a person's life. Second, in what sense might death or posthumous events harm us? To answer this question, we will need to know what it is for something to be in our interests. Third, what is the case for and the case against the harm thesis, the claim that death can harm the individual who dies, and the posthumous harm thesis, according to which events that occur after an individual dies can still harm that individual? Fourth, how might we solve the timing puzzle? This puzzle is the problem of locating the time during which we incur harm for which death and posthumous events are responsible. A fifth controversy concerns whether all deaths are misfortunes or only some. Of particular interest here is a dispute between Thomas Nagel, who says that death is always an evil, since continued life always makes good things accessible, and Bernard Williams, who argues that, while premature death is a misfortune, it is a good thing that we are not immortal, since we cannot continue to be who we are now and remain meaningfully attached to life forever. A final controversy concerns whether or not the harmfulness of death can be reduced. It may be that, by adjusting our conception of our well-being, and by altering our attitudes, we can reduce or eliminate the threat death poses us. But there is a case to be made that such efforts backfire if taken to extremes.

Editor

Edward N. Zalta

Publisher

Stanford University

City

Stanford

Publication Information

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

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