Ancient
Greece & You
Joe Greenwald, Champlain Valley
Union High School, VT
Death
The subject of death
has never been a "hot" topic for our history's philosophers.
It seems that there is a general lack of interest for such a
universal problem. For most philosophers, a simple sentence or
two is sufficient to convey their views. The first philosopher
to tackle the subject in depth was a man by the name of Schopenhaeur.
He felt that death was something to ponder through philosophy,
even though the pondering isn't often acknowledged even frankly
by others. Other philosophers, such as Keirkguard and Camus more
or less support Schopenhaeur in his beliefs on the subject.
There exist some philosophers,
mostly described as contemporary Angle-American analytic philosophers,
who feel that the subject should be left up to the psychologists
and social scientists rather than philosophers. One reason being
the scarcity of references on the subject as it relates to philosophy.
Adding to this disinterest is the interest spawning from the
psychologists and social scientists in 1956 American Psychological
Association convention, which resulted with a published anthology.
The Knowledge of
Death
The main focus of the
few who decide to tackle the philosophy of death, is the many
ways that men lessen or overcome the fear of death. Other related
problems are explored by the philosophers described below. Each
one tackles some or all of the following questions relating to
the Awareness of Death, the Natural Phenomenon of Death and Consciousness
of Death.
The following is a summary
of different beliefs on Death from different historical figures
and groups for each major heading.
Awareness of Death
Voltaire gave the clearest
and most straight forward explanation on death. Voltaire's statement
from Dictionaire Philosophique summarizes his thoughts perfectly,
yet brings forth many other thoughts and questions. "The
human species is the only one which knows it will die, and it
knows this through experience." Although many people have
questioned whether humans are the only species intelligent enough
to be aware of death, it appears to be unquestioned that man
does in fact know about death, and that man regards death as
a universal and inevitable phenomenon.
Max Scheler and Heidegger
contest the view that experience alone gives knowledge of death.
For, they believed that the awareness of death is hereditary
knowledge that comes with human existence. Although these authors
did not have specific scientific evidence to back them up, most
people tended to side with their accusations on the subject.
"For, if one grants current notions about levels of consciousness,
apparent ignorance of death may be interpreted as merely superficial
and attributed to some form of repression." Scheler lead
many people to believe that the knowledge of death depends on
both personal experience and also on the level of "mental
culture" that allows one to experience more deeply. For
instance, many people agreed that those who have been raised
in the elite society have a higher level of experience than those
of lower class societies, so are more applicable to determine
their awareness of death.
Spinoza simply believes
that, "There are levels of knowledge. At its most basic,
our imagination merely reflects the sense data that are produced
by external events, passively. Since no apparent logic connects
these external events, sense-perception alone cannot produce
genuine knowledge."
Variations in Consciousness
of Death
Camus believed in the
Greek myths of the underworld and the Elysian fields. He expressed
this in the Myth of Sysiphus. He thought that these beliefs were
kept because of the human security that was provided by them.
He also believes that some parts of death are conscious and others
are not. He explains how this can be true by using the Sysiphus
Myth. As Sysiphus stomps back down the hill he comes into a conscious
state of mind and he knows what he is doing. Camus says, "that
hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering,
that is the hour of consciousness." The workman of today
works everyday in his life at the same tasks, which can relate
to the theory of Sysiphus. It is tragic that man does this only
at the rare moments when it becomes conscious. Camus' beliefs
can be easily explained by stating that men work mechanically
at things that they know aren't going to amount to anything,
such as everyday 9-5 jobs. They won't amount to anything because
all men die anyway. However, man still goes on with his work
and his life in order to cover up the horrible truth and divert
his attention from death by making himself think that everything
is fine. "Despite so many ordeals, my advanced age and the
nobility of my soul make me conclude that all is well... If there
is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny." Only when
men take their minds off of their mechanical existence, do they
realize what they are doing and where they are at. "At that
subtle moment when man glances backward over his life, he contemplates
that series of unrelated actions which become his fate, created
by him, combined under his memory's eye and soon sealed by his
death...A blind man eager to see knows that the night has no
end, he is still on the go.
The Fear of Death
The whole fear of death
can really be divided into two distinct beliefs. There are many
people who believe, and argue that only the hope of personal
everlasting will essentially lead to a state of peace and reconciliation
with death. Others argue that the fear of death can be overcome
even with the knowledge that one lives in order to die. The various
groups described below share very distinctive views of death
and their fears of it.
The Epicureans. The Epicureans
carried forth one of the oldest settlements of death. Epicurus
and his followers believed that the fear of death was based upon
the beliefs that death was painful and that the soul will live
on to experience more pain and discomfort. It is obvious that
these such accusations are false however, it does paint a picture
of the Epicureans. Although, death may result in a painful disease,
the actual after state of death is very peaceful. According to
Epicurus, "death is nothing to us...It does not concern
either the living or the dead, since the former it is not, and
the later are no more." (Letter to Menoeceus) It is obvious
that most people have rejected the Epicurean's concepts of death,
but more importantly people have dismissed their ideas of human's
fear of death. They completely disagree with the painful fear
that the Epicureans have based much of their philosophies of
death from.
Spinoza was the man who
wrote: "A free man thinks of nothing less than of death,
and his wisdom is not a meditation upon death but upon life."
The Spinoza's followers believed that this was true that man
diverted his attention from death in order to continue with his
life. They thought that this was a good theory and therefore
they followed it and tried to bring others to the same conclusion.
They did this with the belief that it is not enough to tell people
not to think of death; one must explain how they can avoid thinking
of it. Spinoza says that in order to forget about death one must
move on with life and that each individual mode strives to maintain
its own integrity, displaying a characteristic tendency towards
internal cohesion. In other words, people go about their lives
in order to remain happy, in control, and to feel worthy of something.
When people focus on death that is when their life actually ends.
Simply for the reason that they are no longer focusing on living.
They cease to care for anything that is in their life and their
fear of death clouds the way they live.
Death and the Good
Life
Leonardo da Vinci had
yet another view about death. he believed that "just as
a day well spent brings happy sleep, a life well spent brings
happy death." Preoccupation with death has its source in
human misery and if this was done away with, than life men would
have less reason to be miserable. However, da Vinci was argued
against by some very large groups. These were Christian beliefs:
"in order to receive achieve happiness in this life, one
must first conquer the fear of death. Happiness therefore is
not a cure; it is a consequence of the cure."
Finally there is one
last opposition to this subject. It is that human well being
or happiness, at least as traditionally conceived, is totally
impossible to achieve; and if the individual is to experience
such rewarding values as life does permit, he must uncompromisingly
embrace the tragedy of the human condition. Conciously accepting
and acknowledging death. These were the Contemporary Existentialists.
They offer nothing more than this belief. They do not consolate
the subject with any kind of reasoning that these consequences
exist. They have no connection with the natural or profound aspects
of the origins of death and humanity.
