Question 1

Why might immortality be worse than death?

Accepted Answer

A)  It would make our lives shapeless. 
B)  There would be too much to do. 
C)  It would create an extra urgency to living. 
D)  All of the above. 
A)  It would make our lives shapeless. 
B)  There would be too much to do. 
C)  It would create an extra urgency to living. 
D)  All of the above. A

Question 2

What is the paradox of death and meaning?

Accepted Answer

A)  Death makes no sense and yet does make sense. 
B)  Death both grants and withdraws meaning from our lives. 
C)  Meaning both dies and doesn't die. 
D)  There is no paradox of death and meaning. 
A)  Death makes no sense and yet does make sense. 
B)  Death both grants and withdraws meaning from our lives. 
C)  Meaning both dies and doesn't die. 
D)  There is no paradox of death and meaning. B

Question 3

Why might death sap meaning from our lives?

Accepted Answer

A)  It ends all of our projects. 
B)  It eliminates our ability to experience our lives. 
C)  It cuts us off from our future. 
D)  All of the above. 
A)  It ends all of our projects. 
B)  It eliminates our ability to experience our lives. 
C)  It cuts us off from our future. 
D)  All of the above. D

Question 4

When Heidegger says death is our "ownmost" possibility, what does this mean?

Accepted Answer

A)  We own death, it doesn't own us. 
B)  Death cannot be evaded. 
C)  It is our closest possibility, closer to us than anything else. 
D)  It doesn't mean anything. 
A)  We own death, it doesn't own us. 
B)  Death cannot be evaded. 
C)  It is our closest possibility, closer to us than anything else. 
D)  It doesn't mean anything.

Question 5

How does Williams answer the objection that we could always do different things over the course of our immortal lives?

Accepted Answer

A)  We can't be just anybody; our lives have particular commitments. 
B)  We would get lost among all the possibilities of what there is to do. 
C)  There aren't that many things to do to keep us occupied. 
D)  Immortality is just too difficult to imagine. 
A)  We can't be just anybody; our lives have particular commitments. 
B)  We would get lost among all the possibilities of what there is to do. 
C)  There aren't that many things to do to keep us occupied. 
D)  Immortality is just too difficult to imagine.

Exam 21: Death, Mortality, and Meaning

Why might immortality be worse than death?

What is the paradox of death and meaning?

Why might death sap meaning from our lives?

When Heidegger says death is our "ownmost" possibility, what does this mean?

How does Williams answer the objection that we could always do different things over the course of our immortal lives?

Defining Death

Defining Death in a Technological World

We Die When Entropy Overwhelms Homeostasis

What It Is to Die

The Tragic Sense of Life Excerpts

Can We Survive Our Deaths

The Possibility of an Afterlife

Letter to Menoeceus

Two Arguments for Epicureanism

Why Death Is Not Bad for the One Who Dies

Death Is Bad for Us When Were Dead

Making Death Not Quite As Bad for the One Who Dies

On the Nature of Things Excerpts

If You Want to Die Later, Then Why Dont You Want to Have Been Born Earlier

Coming Into and Going Out of Existence

The Epic of Gilgamesh Excerpts

The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die

How to Live a Never-Ending Novela

Taking Stock of the Risks of Life Without Death

Immortality, Boredom, and Standing for Something

Fitting Attitudes Towards Deprivations

The Enchiridion Excerpts

Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion Excerpts

Voluntary Death Excerpts

Letter to Lucilius

Why Grieve

The Significance of Future Generations

Death and Survival Online

Whether One Is Allowed to Kill Oneself Excerpts

Of Suicide Excerpts

Suicide Is Sometimes Rational and Morally Defensible

Suicide and Its Discontents

An Irrational Suicide

World As Will and Representation Excerpts

Death in Mind

Meaning in Life in Spite of Death

Out of the Blue Into the Black

Filters