Thomas Nagel's Perspective on Death: A Review

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Case Study 1: Death by Thomas Nagel

Thomas Nagel’s discussion about death is very intriguing and contemplative. In trying to prod for answers, Nagel began his essay, by writing about common views of death held by different people. His main purpose of writing this paper is to incisively and contemplatively discuss if death is a bad or evil thing. Nagel discusses the some people’s thought about death being evil. They say this because it denies us of living “more life”. He noted that most people are of the view that life is good, despite the fact that some life experiences are unpleasant and tragic. He then adds that when these unpleasant experiences of life are set aside, life is positive, and not just simply "neutral" (10).
Nagel also points …show more content…

Most of the negative views of death we have is because of the grief, loneliness and sometime fear of uncertainty felt at the death of a loved one. Williams Shakespeare (1599) in his book Julius Ceaser described death as a necessary end that will come when it will come. Death is a natural phenomenon that all living beings must experience at a point in time. If we do not think of changes in nature like weather as evil, why do we then look at death which is equally a nature change as bad? Although there are unpleasant changes in nature that we might dislike (example like winter when compared with summer, or any other harsh weather condition), that fact does not make the change bad. Death needs to be viewed in the same way. It is a natural occurrence that must occur. One might also argue about death that occurs untimely, like someone who gets killed in a car crash or violently with a gun or weapon as being evil or bad. In this case we need to be careful to distinguish between the act and the resultant effect. The act that led to the death is bad, but death in itself is not bad or evil. Another point I’ll like to raise is the belief of most people in the world. Based on religious beliefs, most people are of the opinion that there is a form of life after death. This new life is usually achieved when one dies. If this thought which a higher percentage of the world believe is true, then any negative view on death by these believers is contradictory to their belief. When we consider death from view of those who do not believe in any form of life after death, it becomes like the earlier discussed point of suspension of life or

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