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Document Details : Title: Life's Ending Subtitle: A Philosophical Discussion Author(s): HARRIOT, Howard H. Journal: Ethical Perspectives Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Date: April 2004 Pages: 37-49 DOI: 10.2143/EP.8.1.503824 Abstract : The contemplation of the end of life — life's ending — provokes the emotions of fear, alarm and despondency. Fears about the end of life are almost universal. The Stoic Zeno of Elea first analyzed the problem accurately when he pointed out what he thought the fundamental problems of human existence consisted of. He identified the fundamental anxieties as being fear of the gods and a fear of death. Both fears, he thought, could be therapeutically eliminated: fear of the gods was pointless since they (the gods) did not care about us, and fear of death could be rationalized away by reasonable philosophical argumentation. Without wishing to resurrect Zeno's arguments, one can safely say that he was spectacularly wrong in his view of the power of rational argument. The fears about life's ending are multifaceted. They consist of fears about the process of aging, the prospect of one's own dying and one's own death, and the fact that our lives and activities — as they are lived within the confines of our corporealcome to an inevitable end. |
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