Confrontations With The Reaper

Author : Fred Feldman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190282339
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.32/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Confrontations with the Reaper written by Fred Feldman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994-01-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is death? Do people survive death? What do we mean when we say that someone is "dying"? Presenting a clear and engaging discussion of the classic philosophical questions surrounding death, this book studies the great metaphysical and moral problems of death. In the first part, Feldman shows that a definition of life is necessary before death can be defined. After exploring several of the most plausible accounts of the nature of life and demonstrating their failure, he goes on to propose his own conceptual scheme for death and related concepts. In the second part, Feldman turns to ethical and value-theoretical questions about death. Addressing the ancient Epicurean ethical problem about the evil of death, he argues that death can be a great evil for those who die, even if they do not exist after death, because it may deprive them of the goods they would have enjoyed if they had continued to live. Confrontations with the Reaper concludes with a novel consequentialist theory about the morality of killing, applying it to such thorny practical issues as abortion, suicide, and euthanasia.

Author : Fred Feldman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780195358339
Total Pages : 249 pages
Book Rating : 4.33/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Confrontations with the Reaper written by Fred Feldman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994-01-13 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is death? Do people survive death? What do we mean when we say that someone is "dying"? Presenting a clear and engaging discussion of the classic philosophical questions surrounding death, this book studies the great metaphysical and moral problems of death. In the first part, Feldman shows that a definition of life is necessary before death can be defined. After exploring several of the most plausible accounts of the nature of life and demonstrating their failure, he goes on to propose his own conceptual scheme for death and related concepts. In the second part, Feldman turns to ethical and value-theoretical questions about death. Addressing the ancient Epicurean ethical problem about the evil of death, he argues that death can be a great evil for those who die, even if they do not exist after death, because it may deprive them of the goods they would have enjoyed if they had continued to live. Confrontations with the Reaper concludes with a novel consequentialist theory about the morality of killing, applying it to such thorny practical issues as abortion, suicide, and euthanasia.

Author : Bernard N. Schumacher
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139493272
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.77/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Death and Mortality in Contemporary Philosophy written by Bernard N. Schumacher and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contributes to current bioethical debates by providing a critical analysis of the philosophy of human death. Bernard N. Schumacher discusses contemporary philosophical perspectives on death, creating a dialogue between phenomenology, existentialism and analytic philosophy. He also examines the ancient philosophies that have shaped our current ideas about death. His analysis focuses on three fundamental problems: (1) the definition of human death, (2) the knowledge of mortality and of human death as such, and (3) the question of whether death is 'nothing' to us or, on the contrary, whether it can be regarded as an absolute or relative evil. Drawing on scholarship published in four languages and from three distinct currents of thought, this volume represents a comprehensive and systematic study of the philosophy of death, one that provides a provocative basis for discussions of the bioethics of human mortality.

Author : Christopher Belshaw
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317492773
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Annihilation written by Christopher Belshaw and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ever-present possibility of death forces upon us the question of life's meaning and for this reason death has been a central concern of philosophers throughout history. From Socrates to Heidegger, philosophers have grappled with the nature and significance of death. In "Annihilation", Christopher Belshaw explores two central questions at the heart of philosophy's engagement with death: what is death; and is it bad that we die? Belshaw begins by distinguishing between literal and metaphorical uses of the term and offers a unified and biological account of death, denying that death brings about non-existence. How our death relates to the death of the brain is explored in detail. Belshaw considers the common-sense view that death is often bad for us by examining the circumstances that might make it bad as well as the grounds for thinking that one death can be worse than another. In addition, Belshaw explores whether we can be harmed after we die and before we were born. The final chapters explore whether we should prevent more deaths and whether, via cryonics, brain transplants, data storage, we might cheat death. Throughout Belshaw shows how questions of personhood and life's value are bound up with our views on the sense and significance of death. "Annihilation's" in-depth analysis and insightful exposition will be welcomed not only by philosophers working on the metaphysics of death but also by students and scholars alike looking for a foundation for discussions of the ethics of abortion, euthanasia, life-support and suicide.

Author : Victor Cosculluela
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000044335
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Ethics of Suicide written by Victor Cosculluela and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-20 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1995, this volume addresses a topical subject: assisted suicide. The book discusses the issues surrounding the morality of suicide and in so doing clarifies the literature in applied ethics. It critiques the complex moral and religious arguments on the topic offered by philosophers and theologians. It establishes a middle position between those who hold that suicide is never morally permissible and those who claim it always is and it determines when second parties ought to aid and when they ought to prevent suicides.

Author : Jay F. Rosenberg
Publisher : Hackett Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780872204263
Total Pages : 374 pages
Book Rating : 4.6X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Thinking Clearly about Death written by Jay F. Rosenberg and published by Hackett Publishing. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jay Rosenberg's penetrating and persuasively argued analysis of the central metaphysical and moral questions pertaining to death has been updated and revised to expand and deepen several of its key arguments and to address conceptual developments of the past fifteen years. Among the topics discussed are: Life After Death; The Limits of Theorizing; The Limits of Imagination; Death and Personhood; Values and Rights; Mercy Killing; Prolonging Life; Rational Suicide; and One's Own Death. Rosenberg's prose is lucid, lively, thoroughly absorbing, and accessible to introductory-level readers. Essential reading for anyone interested in reflecting on this engaging topic.

Author : John Martin Fischer
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780804721042
Total Pages : 452 pages
Book Rating : 4.41/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Metaphysics of Death written by John Martin Fischer and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of seventeen essays deals with the metaphysical, as opposed to the moral issues pertaining to death. For example, the authors investigate (among other things) the issue of what makes death a bad thing for an individual, if indeed death is a bad thing. This issue is more basic and abstract than such moral questions as the particular conditions under which euthanasia is justified, if it is ever justified. Though there are important connections between the more abstract questions addressed in this book and many contemporary moral issues, such as euthanasia, suicide, and abortion, the primary focus of this book is on metaphysical issues concerning the nature of death: What is the nature of the harm or bad involved in death? (If it is not pain, wha is it, and how can it be bad?) Who is the subject of the harm or bad? (if the person is no longer alive, how can he be the subject of the bad? An if he is not the subject, who is? Can one have harm with no subject?) When does the harm take place? (Can a harm take place after its subject ceases to exist? If death harms a person, can the harm take place before the death occurs?) If death can be a bad thing, would immorality be a desirable alternative? This family of questions helps to fram ethe puzzle of why--and how--death is bad. Other subjects addressed include the Epicurean view othat death is not a misfortune (for the person who dies); the nature of misfortune and benefit; the meaningulness and value of life; and the distinction between the life of a person and the life of a living creature who is not a person. There is an extensive bibiography that includes science-fiction treatments of death and immorality.

Author : Geoffrey Scarre
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317493524
Total Pages : 184 pages
Book Rating : 4.25/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Death written by Geoffrey Scarre and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is death and why does it matter to us? How should the knowledge of our finitude affect the living of our lives and what are the virtues suitable to mortal beings? Does death destroy the meaningfulness of lives, or would lives that never ended be eternally and absurdly tedious? Should we reconcile ourselves to the fact of our forthcoming death, or refuse to "go gently into that good night"? Can death really be an evil if, after death, we no longer exist as subjects of goods or evils? How should we respond to the deaths of others and do we have any duties towards the dead? These, and many other, questions are addressed in Geoffrey Scarre's book, which draws upon a wide variety of philosophical and literary sources to offer an up-to-date and highly readable study of some major ethical and metaphysical riddles concerning death and dying.

Author : Noël Carroll
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1444310364
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Philosophy in The Twilight Zone written by Noël Carroll and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-03-30 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utilizing a series of essays examining the broad philosophical concepts embedded in Rod Serling's series, The Twilight Zone, Philosophy in The Twilight Zone provides a platform for further philosophical discussion. Features essays by eminent contemporary philosophers concerning the over-arching themes in The Twilight Zone, as well as in-depth discussions of particular episodes Fuses popular cult entertainment with classical philosophical perspectives Acts as a guide to unearthing larger questions - from human nature to the nature of reality and beyond - posed in the series Includes substantial critical and biographical information on series creator Rob Serling

Author : Shelly Kagan
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300180845
Total Pages : 387 pages
Book Rating : 4.48/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Death written by Shelly Kagan and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-24 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the myriad of questions that arise when confronting the meaning of mortality, challenging many widely-held views about death and inviting readers to take a fresh look at the fact that they will die.