Death

What are some questions a philospher might ask about death or dying

Comments

Almost from the very beginning, philosophers have reflected on death and dying. Here are some questions that have exercised philosophers (and I am sure the list is incomplete):

Is the death of a person physically a matter of the person ceasing to be or is it possible (or even likely) that there is life after death (or, putting it differently) life after life? If so, what shape may it take? Reincarnation? Heaven or Hell?

If a materialist view of persons is correct, might there still be an afterlife through, say, resurrection or God's re-creating a person?

If death is the ceasing to be of the person, and if we have reason for thinking this is true, what bearing does this have on our ethics? Religious beliefs? Our sense of the meaning of life?

Should death be feared? Why or why not?

When is a person dead? At one time, we measured death with the ceasing of the heart to function. Now we tend to go with the irreversible loss of consciousness. But could it happen that a person in New York and a person in Afghanistan may be in the same state and yet in New York facilities exist that could revive consciousness, but these do not exist in Afghanistan. Could it be that while both persons are in the same state at one time, yet one is dead and the other is not?

Can the dead be harmed?

In a burial or cremation of a dead person's body, are you burning or burying a corpse (the person's remains) or are you burying or burning the person?

Might it be just (and could it be legal) to try a dead person?

How should the body of a dead person be treated?

Are some promises (for example, a promise to a spouse to never marry again) made to a person who is now dead, still be binding?

What are the ethics of organ donations? Who gets them? Can they be sold?

Some philosophers and religious thinkers believe that the person (or soul) pre-existed the existence of their body. Is this possible?

Is there a morally relevant distinction between dying "naturally" or through an overdose of morphine? How much weight does the consent of the person dying have? Is physician assisted suicide morally permissible?

Are your last thoughts and reflections while dying of special significance? Some religious thinkers have thought death bed confessions of sins can be purgative, others have been skeptical. Some might think that if a person's dying words are, say, "I love you" this might carry greater meaning if the same words are said casually when healthy.

When do you start dying? A month or a year or longer before you die from some illness or wound?

When have you killed a person? In New York, you committed murder if you intentionally kill a person by wounding them and they die from the wound a year and a day after receiving the wound. Any longer (say a year and a day and an hour) and you are not legally charged with murder, though you may be charged with attempted murder or assault. Is such a law reasonable? Why not a year and two weeks after the wound?

Are you responsible for someone's death if you hit them, doing serious damage though it was not a mortal wound, and yet the ambulance driving your victim to the hospital is in a terrible accident and the person dies.

In the course of dying if the patient undergoes a radical loss of memory, a change of personality, etc, could it be that the person has already died, though they are still suffering in some kind of shattered fashion?

I am sure this is only scratching the surface, but I hope it is enough to entice you into exploring some of the above!

Read another response by Charles Taliaferro

Read another response about Death