On Death

Death is a universal and unavoidable part of the human condition that presents some essential philosophical questions. While we can be confident that death will happen to us all, it remains ambiguous because we do not comprehensively know what death is nor what happens to our consciousness after we die. In Western culture, we tend to reject death and ignore it until it is at our doorstep. Yet death is a fundamental part of life and a crucial component of who we are. In this essay, I will explore how our attitude towards our own mortality shapes how we live. Whether we believe in an afterlife, karmic rebirth, or nothing at all, facing our own mortality gives our lives structure and meaning. Coming to terms with death is a necessary step towards living a life of authentic purpose in the present.

Death is the ultimate cure for complacency; without it, we would likely get nothing of significance done. Death is life's deadline. On a mundane and literal level, without a deadline, I would have no impetus to finish this essay or engage with this topic. In the same way, death forces us to engage with life. Given an eternity to do as we please, it is difficult to imagine anyone having any momentum to complete challenging projects or participate in a committed way towards anything. Without a sense of time running out, we would plunge into a profound sense of bleak complacency. Death compels us to leave a legacy. It urges us towards lives of meaning. Knowing that our time on earth is limited, we are propelled towards using our time here wisely, particularly as we grow older. Thus, how we face our mortality is intimately entwined with how we create meaning in the present.

Correspondingly, death is also a filter for what truly matters. When confronting our mortality, we must face whether we are wasting our limited time on earth on activities that betray our souls. We must question ourselves and ask whether we are living our truth in complete authenticity. Upon facing our mortality, we may realise that we are wasting our precious lives pursuing things that ultimately mean nothing to us. It is unlikely that anyone on their deathbed has wished for more money in the bank. Yet, typically, we hear reports of people on their deathbeds regretting not spending more time with those they love and on pursuits that expressed their authentic natures. Death gives the things that matter poignancy and depth. When we confront the harsh truth that we will one day separate from our loved ones through death, petty grievances become irrelevant, and each moment spent together is treasured. When we face our mortality, it becomes evident that life is too short to carry resentment and the virtues of forgiveness, love, and compassion gain their proper value. Viewing death through the lens of separation can be helpful in honing our focus towards what really matters, how precious the people and activities we love are and ultimately, how fragile we all are.[1] Thus, death provides us with a reason and a context for living and loving well.

Furthermore, death makes time possible. Time as a construct has no applicability without a beginning and an end to our lives. We know our bodies have an expiry date; they cannot last forever. Consequently, our mortality defines us in a literal, embodied sense. De Beauvoir states that death shapes our relationship to time; time only has meaning in its relationship to death which gives the present moment weight.[2] The past couple of years of the covid-19 pandemic has shown us how life as we know it can change in an instant, how vulnerable we are in relationship to death and how precious our time alive is (more so as it was severely restricted during the lockdowns). Moreover, as the doomsday clock is set at 90-seconds to midnight, the vulnerability of our planet and the continuation of our species is highlighted. In these uncertain times we might look towards Kierkegaard’s philosophy on death, which contains the notion of an uncertain-certainty that guides us to be more cautious with our decisions and to care more deeply about our life's impact.[3] We cannot run away from reality, or bargain with the universe – as Kierkegaard expresses, we must face our individual mortality and approach ‘the living of each day as if it were the last and also the first in a long life’.[4] In this sense, we choose an earnest life through a confrontation with death – pertinent in these turbulent times.

Facing up to our own mortality is also inextricably linked to living an authentic life. Heidegger argues that there is a fundamental relationship between death and authenticity and that facing death and mortality is the only path to authenticity.[5] In a similar concept to meeting the unconscious during psychoanalysis, one can achieve authenticity or individuation only when one confronts the repressed trauma of one's own mortality.[6] When an individual faces death fully, their life grows authentically, as they begin to see through the illusory nature of social and cultural norms and live according to their own authentic principles. As Camus explored extensively in his essay on Sisyphus; ordinary life tasks connected to survival begin to appear absurd; or as Heidegger expresses, the usual things that consume people become trivial and insignificant when faced with death.[7] Thus, the inauthentic life is a life that ignores and rejects death, preferring to remain comfortably numb whilst immersed in groupthink and consumerism, however hollow they may be. Nietzsche conceives of a concept called the eternal return which aims to provide a new purpose for an otherwise meaningless human existence and provide a counterbalance to our empty value systems; it asks whether we would be willing to live the same life for eternity.[8] For Nietzsche, this is how we should approach every moment of our lives.

It must be said, that beyond a materialistic reductionist view of life, science has no idea why we are here. Some aspects of our lives cannot be tested or verified by science, and consciousness may indeed exist beyond what physics is capable of measuring today. Perhaps we should cultivate more humility as a species and accept that there are mysteries that we have not yet solved with science. Or, as Socrates points out in Plato's Apology, it is ignorant to think we know what we do not know about death.[9] During his trial, Socrates states, 'no one knows whether death may not be the greatest of blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew it is the greatest of evils.'[10] Future generations may laugh at our ignorance in assuming consciousness exists solely in the brain, just as we now ridicule many of science’s previously accepted ideas. Scientists are continually arriving at new insights, and another view of consciousness emerging among post-modern quantum physicists posits that consciousness is non-local, transcendent, and eternal.[11] Perhaps we are not merely a bundle of biological mechanisms that can be objectified or investigated. A significant challenge in the modern world is remaining flexible enough to allow different perspectives to co-exist without evidence of their existence.

Capitalist culture primes us not to see beyond our material reality, keeping us focused on consumption and making it improbable that we will see beyond its futility until the stark reality of death rudely awakens us. Hence, it is easy to dismiss the possibility of a soul or life after death with a distinctively smug Western cynicism. Nevertheless, it remains true that if one is preoccupied with the material world, one becomes detached from the potentialities of a higher realm. Or as Plato expressed, philosophy's practice is learning to die well and to let go of the inferior material thrills that are not nearly as important as the realm of ideas.[12] I tend to agree that too much rationality is poison to the soul.

In conclusion, death should be embraced as an inspiration for living more meaningfully and our mortality should be a constant reminder that makes an authentic life possible. The reality of death is as unknown as the reality before being born, and life is a temporary in-between of those two mysterious states. Coming to peace with the mystery of the unknown and choosing to live well in the present is our challenge. When we face our mortality and make friends with it, it imbues our life with a sense of earnest purpose and compassion for ourselves and others – as we are all, quite literally, dying. We must train ourselves to be at peace with mortality and view it as a wise teacher. Whilst Western culture endeavours to ignore death, an authentic life requires death to remain a perpetual possibility of every moment that we are alive. Death is an essential element to our lives and our only guaranteed birth right and facing our mortality should not be met with fear – it should inspire us to live more lovingly, sincerely, and fully.

Bibliography

Bradley B & Matthews G, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Death 7 Death in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, 2012.

Buben A & Stokes P, Kierkegaard and death. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2011.

Fingarette, H, Death: philosophical sounding. Open court, 1996.

Humphrey, J.F, ‘There is Good Hope That Death is a Blessing’ in PhilPapers, D Cooley & L Steffen (eds), Interdisciplinary Press, 2009, <https://philpapers.org/rec/HUMTIG>

Malpas J.E, & Solomon RC, Death and Philosophy. Routledge, 2002.

Lippitt J, & Pattison G, The Oxford handbook of Kierkegaard. Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 373.

Simone De Beauvoir,  A very easy death.. London, Penguin, 1996.

Wahbeh H, Radin D, Cannard C, & Delorme A, ‘What if consciousness is not an emergent property of the brain? Observational and empirical challenges to materialistic models’ in Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 2022.

Williams, R.R, ‘Nietzsche on the Death of God and Eternal Recurrence’. in Tragedy, Recognition, and the Death of God, 2012, 263–289.

[1] Fingarette, Death: philosophical sounding, open court, 1996.

[2] De Beauvoir, A very easy death., London, Penguin, 1996.

[3] Buben & Stokes, Kierkegaard and death, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2011.

[4] Lippitt & Pattison, The Oxford handbook of Kierkegaard, Oxford, U.K., Oxford University Press, 2013. p. 373

[5] Young, essay in Death and Philosophy, Routledge, 2002.

[6] Young, Death and Philosophy, 2002.

[7] Young, Death and Philosophy, 2002.

[8] Williams, ‘Nietzsche on the Death of God and Eternal Recurrence’, in Tragedy, Recognition, and the Death of God, 2012, 263–289.

[9] Matthews, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Death 7 Death in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle , 2012.

[10] Humphrey, ‘There is Good Hope That Death is a Blessing?’, in PhilPapers, D Cooley & L Steffen (eds), Interdisciplinary Press, 2009.

[11] Wahbeh et al., ‘What if consciousness is not an emergent property of the brain? Observational and empirical challenges to materialistic models’, in Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 13, 2022.

[12] Matthews, The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Death, 2012.