Death (Central Problems of Philosophy)

✍ Scribed by Geoffrey Scarre

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 184
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

What is death and why does it matter to us? How should the knowledge of our finitude affect the living of our lives and what are the virtues suitable to mortal beings? Does death destroy the meaningfulness of lives, or would lives that never ended be eternally and absurdly tedious? Should we reconcile ourselves to the fact of our forthcoming death, or refuse to "go gently into that good night"? Can death really be an evil if, after death, we no longer exist as subjects of goods or evils? How should we respond to the deaths of others and do we have any duties towards the dead? These, and many other, questions are addressed in Geoffrey Scarre's book, which draws upon a wide variety of philosophical and literary sources to offer an up-to-date and highly readable study of some major ethical and metaphysical riddles concerning death and dying.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 8
1. The nature of death......Page 10
2. Existential perspectives......Page 34
3. Long lives, short lives......Page 56
4. Facing death......Page 74
5. The evil of death......Page 94
6. The interests of the dead......Page 120
7. Dealing with the dead......Page 138
Notes......Page 160
Bibliography......Page 172
Index......Page 180