![]() ![]() Hume cited Lucretius’ argument to Boswell, Dr. Some version of the symmetry argument has been put forth by Cicero, Plutarch, Seneca, Schopenhauer and Hume. ![]() Neither of these periods of time belongs to you.” 7 Or as Seneca expressed it: “Would you not think him an utter fool who wept because he was not alive a thousand years ago? And is he not just as much a fool who weeps because he will not be alive a thousand years from now? It is all the same you will not be and you were not. Lucretius argued since we do not feel horror at our past non-existence, the time before we were born, it is irrational to feel horror at our future non-existence, the time after our death, since they are the same. This was probably first used by Lucretius, a Roman disciple of Epicurus. The anaesthetic from which none come round.” 6Ī more powerful argument used by the Epicureans against the fear of death is the “symmetry” argument. No touch or taste or smell, nothing to think with, That this is what we fear - no sight, no sound, “And specious stuff that says No rational beingĬan fear a thing it will not feel, not seeing Dying can be experienced, death cannot.)īut like many, the poet Philip Larkin found Epicurus’ argument unconvincing: “Death, therefore…is nothing to us…” 5 (It must be kept in mind that Epicurus is talking about death, not dying. "hen we exist, death is not yet present, and when death is present, then we do not exist." Since death affects neither the dead nor the living, there is no need to fear it. But death cannot be bad for the living, since they are alive, nor for the dead, since they don’t exist. If death is bad it has to be bad for somebody. Epicurus’ main argument against this fear is the “no subject of harm” argument. Similarly, the Hellenistic philosophers thought the fear of death rests on false beliefs that rational argument could take away.įor Epicurus, eliminating the fear of death, central to living a happy life, can be achieved through a correct understanding of death. If I discover I was mistaken my anger will disappear. I am mad because I believe I have been wronged in some way. Its arguments are to the soul as the doctor’s remedies are to the body.” 4īut what effect can reason and argument have against our emotions, especially such a powerful emotion as the fear of death? It is a mistake to think that all our emotions are simply blind urges unaffected by what we think or believe. “Philosophy heals human diseases, diseases produced by false beliefs. For them, philosophy was primarily therapeutic, a treatment for suffering. All the ancient schools of thought, Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics, thought the fear of death irrational and employed arguments to combat it. The hare in itself would not screen us from the sight of death and calamities but the chase, which turns away our attention from these, does screen us.” 3īut there are other ways of combating the fear of death. ![]() And those…who think men unreasonable for spending a whole day in chasing a hare…scarce know our nature. “Diversion…This is all that men have been able to discover to make themselves happy. In the words of Pascal, “To be happy he would have to make himself immortal but, not being able to do so, it has occurred to him to prevent himself from thinking of death.” 2 And that is what diversions and distractions provide. “The true life is one that is both everlasting and happy,” and “since all men want to be happy, they want also to be immortal if they know what they want for otherwise they could not be happy.” 1Ībsent a religious belief in immortality, denial is the most common way of treating the fear of death. We repress all thought of death and live as if we have unlimited time.įor Saint Augustine, fear of death makes a happy life impossible. We hate our mortality and don’t want to be made aware of it. Man doesn’t know how to be mortal.” -Milan Kundera, Immortality To be mortal is the most basic human experience and yet man has never been able to accept it, grasp it, and behave accordingly. ![]()
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