Laying down in bed, just before I fall asleep after a very long day, I think to myself, as I am sure everyone does once in a while. Our minds keep us up at night just wondering what we have done wrong, how to fix my past mistakes, and what will become of us in the future, when we are old and wrinkly. In occasion I think about life and when in question about life and meaning I must consider why I am alive. I must consider what it is I am living for, what I want, and what will be my end game. I must think about this because everybody lives and dies, its only nature right? If presented with the opportunity to live forever, to be immortal, would I take it? Would it change what I previously wanted to do in my life span? Would I still be the person …show more content…
Won’t I become bored because I could possibly do EVERYTHING? Williams’ Thesis has two main points: 1) Immortality would be intolerable and 2) Death is reasonably regarded as an evil. Williams believes that our desire to do things are based off the fear of death. I can reason with the second point, death is reasonably regarded as an evil. I, as a mortal, know that death could possibly mean the end and some may view that as an evil. I do not believe that death is an evil however I do not wish to meet an end. Williams believes that immortality would be intolerable because he categorized how we find purpose in a simple-minded way. He split up our desires in two, Categorical and Hypothetical Desires. The Categorical desires gives us reason to avoid death. They involve loving people, building a family or maintaining a family. Hypothetical desires are the little things we do to keep us alive such as eat our favorite food or work to make money to purchase the things we want. These desires are the desires related to death, making death seem evil and portraying this “evil” as the reason to live. Fischer described what he thought were the reasons we live in rebuttal to Williams’ Thesis. Instead of using Conditional and Hypothetical, Fischer replaces them with “Self-exhausting pleasures” and “Repeatable pleasures”. Self-exhausting pleasures are things we …show more content…
Would I still be the person I am today? I can say with all certainty that what I want to do in my current life span would not change if I were to become immortal. I will still do what I wish to do in my current lifespan. Once I do, however, my horizons open up. I can start on whatever I want and master whatever I wish. I can become the wisest person and live for eons trying to learn more. As I go on I will change. I will like different things and be involved in many other things I would have never thought of right now. That being said I would still be the same person that I am now. Some can argue that because I would have changed my outlook on things that I wouldn’t be the same me. Just because I changed my outlook on things doesn’t change that fundamentally I am the same person I was a decade ago, a century ago, or a millennium ago. Just because my interest have changed slightly doesn’t mean I have changed, it means I have been able to explore things that were not available to me beforehand and grew to like them. So yes, I would still be the same
Richard Taylor, an American philosopher and author of, “The Meaning of Life” believes you can live a meaningful life as long as you realize your will and are completely involved in it and enjoy it, then you are no longer needed and your life was a successful one. “This is surely the way to look at all of life- at one’s own life, and each day and moment it contains; of the life of a nation; of the species; of the life of the world; and of everything that breathes” (Taylor p 27). He proves this through the ancient myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus was sentenced by the Gods to spend an eternity rolling a stone repeatedly to the top of a hill and once it reached the top, it would roll right back down once again. Taylor calls Sisyphus’ life as an “endless pointlessness.” Taylor relates human life to Sisyphus’ life. He believes that both of our lives can have meaning. Taylor asks us to look at Sisyphus’ story in a different way. For example, while the Gods sentenced him to rolling this stone up a hill for an eternity, what if they gave him a “strange and irrational impulse” to roll the stone repeatedly. Now, according to Richard Taylor, Sisyphus’ life would now have meaning and if we were to be as invested as Sisyphus in rolling the stone, then our lives have meaning as well.
Personal immortality seems to be a paradox that many people address and distinguish in different ways. Through outlets such as religion, science, or personal belief this topic is often argued and habitually facilitates strong arguments. Weirob and Miller explicitly explain their dualist/physicalist outlooks on personal immortality as they have a conversation at the hospital where Weirob slowly succumbs to her injuries received in a motorcycle accident. As Weirob patiently awaits death, Miller explains how due to Weirobs realist view on life he will not try to “comfort [her] with the prospect of life after death” (Perry, pg. 65). Due to Weirobs state of unavoidable demise she asks Miller to entertain her with the argument for life after death,
Williams first beings by classifying desires into two categories. One category of desires are classified as, conditional desire, which are desires we have and we would like to satisfy but only if we live long enough. It is also called conditional desires because the desire is conditional on our existence. For instance, I would like to travel the world when I retire but only if I'm still alive then. So it follows that I would like to fulfill this desire if I am
...tive occurrences in life, and even manage to derive some positives from such experiences. Those who argue against this concept do it on a basic level, without truly understanding the impact of eternal recurrence on a free spirit. Such arguments are made on a surface interpretation, without taking into account; the fact that such an approach involves a person’s every move throughout their life, as they seek to achieve the most fulfilling life experience, regardless of wealth or social status. In the end, the adoption of such an approach depends on personal perception, because some people might view the opportunity to relive every moment of their lives as an opportunity not to be missed, while others might view it as an unnecessary burden.
Since the beginning of recorded history, everlasting life has been pursued by old and young, rich and poor. One need only look to the Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest story in the world, to discover where these roots lay. Gilgemesh, the mighty king and warrior, fearing his own demise, seeks out Utnapishtim, a mortal made immortal by the gods, in the hopes that he'll reveal the secret of eternal life. The immortal tells the king of a flower, which when eaten, bestows eternal life. Note that the answer is tangible and real, something that can be seen and held. Not immortality for the soul, but for the body. In the end Gilgamesh fails at his quest, but he is all the wiser for his journeys. The Greeks, too, sought immortality, but it tended to be of a spiritual nature only, because generally the gods were the only ones considered to be true immortals.
What is life? No one seems able to agree, and there is no side in between. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy, as well as one of the most seemingly unsolvable controversies. Pro-life advocates claim that abortion equates to full-on murder, while pro-choice advocates claim that women have the right to make decisions about their own bodies. With the right to an abortion under attack more and more, even clinics finding themselves under actual gunfire, abortion becomes a bigger debate topic than ever. A woman is a person more than the fetus inside of her, and she deserves to make whatever choice she wishes about her own body. Women should have safe, easy access to abortion in all cases.
My claim: I argue in favor of the right to die. If someone is suffering from a terminal illness that is: 1) causing them great pain – the pain they are suffering outweighs their will to live (clarification below) 2) wants to commit suicide, and is of sound mind such that their wanting is reasonable. In this context, “sound mind” means the ability to logically reason and not act on impulses or emotions. 3) the pain cannot be reduced to the level where they no longer want to commit suicide, then they should have the right to commit suicide. It should not be considered wrong for someone to give that person the tools needed to commit suicide.
The desire for everlasting life or immortality has been the first and the oldest quest of mankind. At the beginning of time, man was designed to live forever. When God created Adam, he created him to dwell on the earth and to fill it with his offspring’s. At no time was he told that this was a temporary arrangement. He was to live forever unless he ate from one certain tree. If he ate from that tree, then he would die. We are then left with several questions, if he had not eaten from that tree, would he still be alive? If he was meant to live forever, was that desire instilled in him? And as his descendants, was the desire to live forever instilled in each of us as well?
Overcoming adversity is imperative. In fact, you can 't have the happiness and success you want unless you have adversity in your life and overcome it. It is essential for progressing into who you want to be. It shows you what you are made of. It teaches you more about yourself, how to approach what you want, and how to maintain the success that you have. Without it, you wouldn 't know how far you could go or how capable you are because you wouldn 't have anything to push you or compare to.
Education is a huge topic of controversy, society is always trying to reform what we know as education today. Right now, the first 12 years of education are entirely free for students directly, but in the end are paid for by the taxpayers of the town. The question is, why should only grades k-12 be free why not a college education too? On the other hand, there are some exceptions to free schooling at the k-12 levels. The most prominent being, Private schooling, most towns in the United States have at least one if not many private schools. They require a certain amount in tuition for each of its students every year. An example of this, in my town Salem, NH one of the most known private catholic schools is St. Joseph 's. I had a good friend a few years back
Would you want to live forever ? My position on this topic is equal upon
Life is not merely something that we experience outwardly. It can be an awakening to imagination, emotion, and true virtue. As we experience feelings in the way Puddleglum lived, believing in something so profound and so realistic that no apathy or emptiness could ever dissuade him, we can learn to live a life worth continuing. Keeping our eyes on that which is not fleeting or passing away, we can learn to feel more and with purpose. As 1 John 2:17 declares, “And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains
Necessity for Survival How can one survive and thrive with not enough needed for for survival? Not having enough could be a variety of things to many for many different people. For example not enough food, money, confidence, empathy self discipline, etc. What does it take to survive with such little one has?
A healthy lifestyle is usually picked up as we get older. However, think of how much more beneficial it would be for our bodies when we get older, if we would have learned and adapted to a healthier lifestyle when we were younger? Teaching your kids how important a healthy diet is, will help them maintain that lifestyle in their older years. Not to mention have lower health risks, higher self-esteem and it will give them the energy they need to keep up with their eating habits and maintain their body weight.
Many don’t realize that the road to success isn’t so much a road as it is a winding,