Death

In Todd May “Death”, the philosopher discusses how imminent  death affect our life decisions and the project we embarked on. He also argues that immortality is a worse fate than death due  to boredom and rendering our virtue useless. One of the main point in the book is that death is not a goal but just a finisher of cf our projects like graduation, relationships. Death comes without looking at our schedules unlike in  sitcoms when someone death moves the plot or has a meaning. So if death is inevitable and unpredictable how do we human grapple with our mortality and furthermore our useful are these methods. Todd May notice that all religions tackles the issue of death and what is going happen to us after we die irrespective of border. If religion is used to explain the unknown and bring comfort to the masses it not surprising that death is addressed. Another method is not think about death which means avoid funerals, hospitals and anything revolving the subject; which is a futile task. Or the inverse which is to preoccupy yourself with death and not making room for anything else which is foolish. The remaining methods we use to cope are wishful thinking and creating a legacy which refuse to acknowledge the fragility of death. I am going to continue blogging about this book next week.

Comments

  1. Henry WidmanApril 8, 2019 at 4:04 PM

    I definitely agree that preoccupying yourself with worries about your death and not leaving room for anything else in your life is foolish. I also feel like completely avoiding death your entire life(funerals, hospitals) can be foolish as well because it can make you naive to the fact that you are going to die one day. I feel like that could really hurt someone long-term when you consider that death can be so unpredictable and can be sprung on you with very short notice as you get older(ex. Ivan being told about his illness in The Death Of Ivan Ilyich.)

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  2. Madison DunbarApril 10, 2019 at 7:12 PM

    I for sure agree that immorality is not as hyped up as it's made out to seem. We shouldn't be looking forward to death, but be aware it will happen at some point. I also agree with your points about death. Being mortal is something that makes us human. Being mortal is a good thing. Mortality gives us motivation to push ourselves to finish projects. Although death is uncertain, living for a purpose/goal is important.

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