Philosophical Views on Death: An Exploration and Analysis Essay

This essay explores philosophical perspectives on the fear of death, primarily focusing on the views of Epicurus and Lucretius. Epicurus argues that death should not be feared because when we exist, death does not, and when death exists, we do not. He posits that death is merely the cessation of existence and therefore cannot harm us. Lucretius supports this by stating that at death, the soul disperses, leading to non-existence. The essay also addresses the argument that death gives meaning to life by encouraging individuals to strive for significance. It counters the fear of death with the idea that it is a natural and inevitable part of life, and that fearing it can lead to negative mental health implications. The essay concludes that based on the assertions of Epicurus and Lucretius, death should not be feared, as it either does not concern us while we are alive or cannot affect us once we are dead.

Philosophy
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Course
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Introduction
Death has been defined as the cessation of all crucial functions especially as indicated by
permanent stoppage of the heart, and other activities such as respiration, and brain activities. In
other words, it is termed as the end of life1. Although people have come up with various views
concerning the reasons that should make people fear death, different philosopher have provided
advanced claims that should make people not fear death.
Should we fear death?
Over the years, many psychologists have been affirming that people are highly motivated
by fear of death. According to Epicurus, if one is not aware of something, it cannot harm
him/her. This means people should not fear death because once they die, they are not aware of
their status2. He also provided an argument against the fear of death by stating that it should not
concern human beings because as long as they exist, death is not there, and when it comes the
person seizes existing. From this argument, Epicurus meant that people should not have fear for
something that they are not sure about, and if it comes, it stops their life, meaning they will not
exist to realize the pleasure or the pain which may result.
Epicurus was one of the first atomists to trust that everything entails material entities and
no soul that can survive death. Although there are other aspects of death which people can fear,
such as disability, diseases, and the pain which people who care about someone may experience,
1 Judith, Anderson. H. Light and Death: Figuration in Spenser, Kepler, Donne, Milton.
New York: Fordham University Press, 2017
2 Patrick, Stokes & Adam, Buben. Kierkegaard and Death. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press, 2011

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the philosophical perspective that there is no life after dying should make death nothing to fear3.
If a person does not exist after dying, it means he/she fully seizes to exist and should therefore
not fear what goes on after the end of his/her life.
Epicurus also affirmed that mortality does not concern the living because as long as
human beings exist, death is not present. When it comes one is gone forever, and therefore
he/she no longer exists. By this statement, Epicurus meant that if something comes and goes,
people should not have to fear it because however it hurts when it happens, it is forgotten after
sometime.
Lucretius also contended that people should not fear death because it does not have a
meaning to them. He supported this argument by stating that at death, the soul is dispersed,
meaning that the person no longer exists. Considering the fact that this leads to the end of
existence, people should not fear it because they do not know what happens after they die.
Although people argue that death makes human life to lack importance and therefore it
should be feared, various philosopher argue that it gives an important meaning to human beings
because it makes them to strive for better lives. If human beings fear death, it means they will
never attain anything of importance because they will keep postponing things4. Accepting death
gives life a meaning because it makes people to trust that one day they will not exist, and
therefore strive to attain what they feel is important to them.
3 Makiko, Kondo and Hiroshi, Nagata. Nurses’ Involvement in Patients’ Dying and
Death. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, vol. 70, No. 3, 2015, pp. 278-300.
4 Anne, Simmonds. Finding Life in the Midst of Death. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling,
vol. 70, No. 3, 2016 pp. 204-205

3
If people fear death, it means they are afraid of living. If people fear to live, it implies
that life has no meaning to them and therefore will always live in fears. It is important for people
to accept death because it is something natural5. Although people may fear it, they cannot have
any control on it, and therefore accepting that it exists is important especially for the people who
want to attain something important in their lives.
Life is always precious because of death. If people fear mortality, they will never
appreciate this precious lifetime time because they will hold the mentality that they life death
may occur anytime. Fearing death means that we stop living because that perception makes
people to lose focus in their lives.
Research has implies that death anxiety has negative implications on health. For example,
it is associated with various mental health disorders, including health anxiety, depression
disorder and depressive disorders. The fear of death also makes people to be too scared to talk
about it and this worsens the implications of this issue on human health because if someone does
not understand something, he/she realizes hard time while trying to cope with it when it
happens6.
From Epicurus point of view concerning mortality, when one does, he/she does not exist
and therefore people should not have the fear of becoming nothing because once dead, one does
5 Darla, Beaty. Approaches to Death and Dying. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying,
vol. 70, No. 3, 2015, pp. 301-316
6 Charles, Corr. A. Teaching About Life and Living in Courses on Death and Dying.
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, vol. 73, No. 2, 2015, pp. 174-187.

4
not understand what goes on around. This means that people should not fear what they don’t
know because death ends their existence.
The other reason why people should not fear mortality is that no one knows the life
beyond death. Although from Christian point of view there is life after death, Epicurus affirms
that death is a complete extinction of a person from earth and that there is no life after death7.
This means because one does not live anymore after his/her death, human beings should have
nothing to fear concerning mortality because when dead, one is gone forever.
Epicurus asserted that any kind of fear becomes irrational when, by its existence, it
minimizes our pleasure more that if the object of that fear would be noticed. Therefore,
according to his view, mortality does not eliminate meaning from life, but rather, it does away
with the fear of death8. This implies that the fear of death is not rational according to epicurean’s
assertions because it threatens human beings from attaining the state of ataxia.
The other reason why people should not fear death is that it is inevitable by nature.
Fearing something that no one can stop it or reverse it is not sensible. Because death is part of
human life which every person must undergo, it should be viewed as a stage and nothing to
worry about. Epicurus in his view concerning mortality affirmed that death is as important as
being born and therefore if human beings accept and does not fear birth, then they should also
not fear death. This claim is also supported by Lucretius in his symmetry argument concerning
7 Leonard, Dan. A Good Death: Mortality and Narrative in Army Leadership. Military
Review, Vol. 95, No. 6, 2015, pp. 25-36.
8 Mark, Johnston. Surviving Death. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010.

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the alleged symmetry between prenatal and post-Morten nonexistence. In this argument,
Lucretius claimed that death is as important as being born because one marks the beginning of
life while the other marks the end.
According to Epicurus point of view, one’s life ends at death, and therefore human beings
should have nothing to fear because at the status of death, one does not exist to know what goes
on after that. He also claimed that death gives human beings the essence of striving to attain what
they think is good in their lives because it brings the notion that life has limitations9.
Although people feel death is not worth to exist, it plays a crucial role in reliving human
beings from some of the things that make them to experience difficult lives. For example,
someone who is in chronic pain in most cases prefer being dead than experiencing the pain. This
is the reason that makes Epicurus and other philosophers to claim that although people fear
death, it in some cases play a significant role in our lives10. If mortality did not exist, it means
human beings who undergo chronic pains due to untreatable diseases or those that are beyond
medical interventions would live in pain for the rest of their lives.
Because when one is living death is not with a person and whenever it comes the person
no longer exists, it should not concern either the living or the dead because the former, in this
9 Abigail, Evans. Is God Still at the Bedside? The Medical, Ethical, and Pastoral Issues of
Death and Dying. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2011.
10 Magrini, James. M. An Ontological Notion of Learning Inspired by the Philosophy of
Hannah Arendt: The Miracle of Natality. Review of Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 12,
2013, pp. 65-75.

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case, is it is not, and the latter is one is no more11. This means it is senseless to fear something
which is not with us, or something that we do not exist to witness.
In most cases, human beings fear death because they believe it deprives a person of
whatever good things in life that the person would experience. However, death should not be
feared for any of its positive aspects because it does not have any12. This view is supported by
Lucretius by stating that there is nothing good in life which can be influenced by death.
Conclusion
From Epicurus’ and Lucretius assertions concerning death, human beings should have nothing to
fear because mortality plays a significant role in human life. According to Epicurus point of
view, when human beings are alive, death is not with them, and when they die, there do not exist
to witness what goes on that. This claim meant that people should not fear what is not with them,
and also should not be afraid because of things that happen without their presence.
Lucretius also provided various claims that should make human beings not fear death. One of
these claims is stating that people should not fear mortality because it does not have a meaning to
them. He supported this claim by saying that when one dies, his/her soul is dispersed indicating
that the person does not exist. Therefore, it becomes senseless for one to fear something when
he/she no is no more.
11 Larry, Lockridge. Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr.,
Author of Raintree County. Indiana University Press: Indiana University Press, 2014.
12 Anthony, Thiselton. C. Life after Death: A New Approach to the Last Things. Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2012.

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Bibliography

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Anderson, Judith. H. Light and Death: Figuration in Spenser, Kepler, Donne, Milton. New
York: Fordham University Press, 2017
Beaty, Darla. Approaches to Death and Dying. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, vol. 70,
No. 3, 2015, pp. 301-316
Corr, Charles. A. Teaching About Life and Living in Courses on Death and Dying. OMEGA -
Journal of Death and Dying, vol. 73, No. 2, 2015, pp. 174-187.
Dan, Leonard. A Good Death: Mortality and Narrative in Army Leadership. Military Review,
Vol. 95, No. 6, 2015, pp. 25-36.
Evans, Abigail. Is God Still at the Bedside? The Medical, Ethical, and Pastoral Issues of Death
and Dying. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2011.
James, Magrini. M. An Ontological Notion of Learning Inspired by the Philosophy of Hannah
Arendt: The Miracle of Natality. Review of Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 12, 2013, pp.
65-75.
Johnston, Mark. Surviving Death. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010.
Kondo, Makiko and Nagata, Hiroshi. Nurses’ Involvement in Patients’ Dying and Death.
OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, vol. 70, No. 3, 2015, pp. 278-300.
Lockridge, Larry . Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr., Author of
Raintree County. Indiana University Press: Indiana University Press, 2014.
Simmonds, Anne. . Finding Life in the Midst of Death. Journal of Pastoral Care & Counseling,
vol. 70, No. 3, 2016 pp. 204-205.

9
Stokes, Patrick & Buben, Adam. Kierkegaard and Death. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University
Press, 2011.
Thiselton, Anthony. C. Life after Death: A New Approach to the Last Things. Grand Rapids,
MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2012.