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Adaptation, Steven Luper
Adaptation, Steven Luper
Philosophy Faculty Research
Some ways of dealing with a threatened evil will be self-defeating, in the sense that the response is no better for us, or even worse, than the evil it prevents. A way of adapting to death might be self-defeating in precisely the same way. Perhaps, however, we can adapt to death by suitably modifying our interests, and do so in a way that is not self-defeating. I will call this claim the adaptation thesis. Elsewhere, I have argued against it. In this chapter, I reinforce that conclusion.
Annihilation, Steven Luper
Annihilation, Steven Luper
Philosophy Faculty Research
Let us assume with Epicurus that death means annihilation. Then can we truthfully say that death is nothing to us? I think not. Nor should we want to believe that the deaths we shall soon face are nothing to us, I shall argue. Once we see what we would have to be like in order to be truly as unconcerned about dying as Epicurus professed to be, we shall see that we are better off dreading our dying day. However, I shall suggest that there are steps we can take to ensure that if luck is on our side, dying …