Epicurus and His Critics
Introduction
Epicurus view on “death is nothing to us” has had an impact in different parts of the world. For example, Epicurus argument about death has affected the western thought for the last three decades. People have different views about Epicurus argument. Some people support his view on death while others do not. Most of the people do not support his view on death because the argument is flawed and this has affected its success. For example, Epicurus argument does not take into account emotional feelings and Christian beliefs. In addition, it does not consider the event, but it considers the state of death. This paper analyzes Epicurus argument on “death is nothing to us” and shows why it fails and succeeds.
Discussion
Epicurus argues that human beings should not fear death, but they should try and overcome the fear of death. Epicurus started his argument by concluding “that death is nothing to us”. His death argument is divided into various sections. The first, section shows how death does not involve pleasure and pain. In the second section, Epicurus shows how pain is bad for human beings (Warren 2008). Epicurus has used various points to support his argument that “death is nothing to us”. First, Epicurus uses philosophy to support his death argument. First, Epicurus believes that philosophy is useful in the world as its helps people understand different things like death.
Epicurus argues that the study of philosophy could help human beings live a happier and more pleasant life. Though there are different ways that human beings can live happily, I believe understanding death can help people live a happy life as evidenced by Epicurus argument. Epicurus claims that people should relieve themselves the burdens that make their life worse instead of making them better. For example, people should relieve themselves the burden of fear of death. Epicurus believes that the fear of death makes life miserable for many people in the society. This is because they are not able to understand death and overcome fear caused by death. Understanding death would help eliminate the fear (Warren 2008).
Epicurus philosophical argument about death and fear is included in the letter to menoeceus.In his letter, Epicurus argues that human beings should believe that death is nothing to them. This is because the good and bad are found in “sense experience”. He states that death is the misery of sense experience (Warren 2008). He also claims that there is nothing people can fear in life if they understand that there is no need to fear death. In this case, death is nothing to us even if it is scaring. This is because when people exist in the world there is no death. Also, when death is present, people do not exist. Thus, death is not relevant to the living and the dead as it does not affect those who are alive and those who have died (Warren 2008).
Though most people in the society flee death because they consider it bad, they some time choose death as a method to relieve them suffering. Epicurus argues that a wise person does not reject his life and he does not fear death. In this case, people who do not fear death and do not reject life are not afraid of living and also do not fear dying as they consider it good (Warren 2008).
I agree with Epicurus philosophical argument about death. This is because philosophy is aimed at attaining happiness and a decent life. That is a life that is characterized by peace and freedom from fear (Warren 2008). In addition, philosophy helps eliminate pain and ensure people live a satisfactory life in the society. Additionally, I agree with Epicurus philosophical explanation about death. Most people in the society spend a lot of time devising strategies to avoid death. This has led to anxiety and fear of death in the society. It has also caused depression and suffering. Understanding death is important as stated by Epicurus as it helps people live positively and peacefully. This is because they appreciate being alive and death (Warren 2008).
Moreover, I agree with Epicurus argument that pleasure and pain can be used to measure what is good in the society and also what is bad. Epicurus argues that good and bad result from the sensation of pain and pleasure. Good things in the society are pleasurable (Warren 2008). On the other hand, bad things are painful. Epicurus considers pleasure and pain important elements in his argument. This is because he uses good and bad to conclude that death is nothing to us. People in the society should be able to differentiate what is bad and what is good. The kind of choice one makes affects his or her life negatively (Warren 2008). For example, people who make bad choices end up suffering. On the other hand, people who make good choices live happily. People in the society can select bad over good if it brings happiness instead of suffering. For example, people can choose something if it does not bring physical and mental pain. Epicurus argued that when people do not suffer, they do not need pleasure anymore. This is because they are comfortable (Warren 2008).
Further, Epicurus argues that death should not be feared as it does not cause pain. For example, when people die they do not feel pain as they no longer exist (Feldman 1992). Most people have supported Epicurus argument because it teaches people in the society about death. Like other philosophers, Epicurus argues that sensation and consciousness ends when one dies and hence there is no pleasure or pain during death and after death. The fear of death results from many things. For example, the fear of death results from the belief that one is always aware during death (Feldman 1992).
Further, Epicurus argument about death is based on materialism. The advocates of materialism believe that matter is the only thing that exists in the world (Feldman 1992). They also believe that all things are made up of material. In addition, the advocates of materialism claim that consciousness is as a result of interaction of different materials. Epicurus has related his death argument with the theory of materialism. This is evidenced by his argument on soul and universe. Epicurus claims that death is the end of the body and soul and people should not fear it. He also claims that gods do not reward people or punish them. Moreover, Epicurus argues that the universe is infinite and external and all the events in the world area as a result of the motion of atoms in the space and interaction of atoms. Thus, the consciousness is due to interaction of various materials in the space (Feldman 1992).
I think that the Epicurus argument about death has failed because of the opposition of various scholars. Most scholars have opposed Epicurus argument about death. Though Epicurus argument about “death is nothing to us” is clear and true, many people do not agree with his idea because of the shortcomings of his argument. Most scholars argue that Epicurus does not state the event of death in his argument, but he states the anticipation of death. He claims that the anticipation of death is the one that causes disturbances among human beings and makes it hard for them to live a happy life (Feldman 1992). Several scholars have rejected Epicurus argument. For example, Warren Shibles argues that Epicurus argument about death shows that people should not fear the state of death as people will not be conscious after death. The philosopher does not state clearly how human beings should avoid fearing death itself, but not its state.
Some of the critics argue that Epicurus argument about death means indifference to life. This is evidenced by his argument about death and life. Epicurus argues that people should respect life and death. Respecting death and life helps peopled live happily and hence accept death. Epicurus states that life is good, though most people might not be able to accept that life is good. The criticism has affected the success of Epicurus argument (Feldman 1992). Also, the difference between different religious groups has also affected the success of the death argument. Most of the Christians oppose Epicurus argument as it is against their beliefs. Epicurus argues that there is no life after death and Christians should not worry about death. Epicurus claims that when people die, they become nothing and hence are unable to feel pain and suffer. This is contrast to Christian beliefs. Majority of the Christians believe that there is life after death.
Christians do not consider life to be meaningless as there is always another life after death. Most of the Christians have called Epicurus an atheist because of his believes. Thus, Epicurus should have considered that human beings do not become nothing after death (Feldman 1992). I think, Epicurus argument is flawed as he does not consider emotional feelings in his argument. People are not able to help what they feel. This implies that people are not able to stop fearing death if they fear death. Hence, Epicurus argument about living positively is not applicable as people cannot live without fearing death and hence the need to take the right precautions. Additionally, peopled are not able to change their emotions, but only changed how they react to emotions (Feldman 1992).
I think Epicurus argument succeeds because it shows that death is nothing to us. Epicurus argument is valid as he tries to prevent people in the society from fearing death. Most people fear death or not existing and this leads to suffering as stated above (Feldman 1992). However, Epicurus ha shown that people should not fear being dead as it does not cause any suffering or pain (Feldman 1992). Instead, they should appreciate death and life Epicurus has compared life before birth and life after birth so as to help people understand why they should not fear death. For example, Epicurus argues that we never feared before we were born and we did not experience any pain or suffer. This is because we did not exist. So, people should not assume that the time of existence would be a painful time. Hence, people should not fear death when they are alive or not as it does not cause any pain or pleasure (Feldman 1992).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Epicurus argument about death is nothing has affected different people in the society. Epicurus has supported his argument about death is nothing using different things. For example, he has supported his point using philosophy. He argues that good and bad play an important role in people life and influences their life in different ways. For example, people who make good choices find it easy to live happy life unlike people who make a bad choice. Hence, the philosopher emphasizes on bad and good in understanding life and death. The author argues that lack of understanding on death has led to fear of death. Most people in the society fear death and this has forced them to live in fear. People should fear death as they do not feel pain before death and after death. Instead fearing death causes stress. Epicurus argument has failed as it does not consider emotional feeling before death and after death. It does not also consider religious beliefs.
Reference
Feldman,F. Confrontations with the reaper: a philosophical study of the nature and value of death. Oxford University Press, 1992
Warren,J.Facing death: Epicurus and his critics. Oxford University Press, 2006
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