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The theme of life and death in literature
Death theme in literature
The theme of life and death in literature
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I find Feldman’s second definition to be the most interesting. In it, he states that when someone dies at a certain time, they cease permanently to be living. This fixes the issues with his first definition by saying that even though someone ceases to live (like if they were put in suspended animation) they would not be obligated to die. With the new definition, someone is only declared dead when there is no possibility of them ever waking up. However, there is a problem with this definition; it gets the time wrong. According to the second definition, if two twins are put into suspended animation, and Twin 1 dies while suspended, then that twin was technically dead when put in animation. This does not seem logical, since twin two is in
Mortality, the subject of death, has been a curious topic to scholars, writers, and the common man. Each with their own opinion and beliefs. My personal belief is that one should accept mortality for what it is and not go against it.
In the beginning of Death, Nagel presented the question of whether it is a bad thing to die. He furnished two positions on the subject. The first position is that life is all one possesses and to lose life is the greatest loss one can encounter. The second position is that death is a blank, not an unimaginable condition, that has no positive or negative value whatsoever. Stating his aim to be considering whether death is in itself an evil, Nagel clarified that the state of being dead, or nonexistent, is not in itself evil for several reasons. First, death is not an evil that one is able to accumulate more of. A person cannot receive a larger portion of death no matter how long they have been in that state. Secondly, one would not regard temporary life suspension as harmful. In the case of long-term suspended animation or freezing, one can view this as a continuation of their present life. Thirdly, few people regard the long period of time before their birth as a misfortune. From these points, Nagel concluded that humanity does not object to death because it involves indeterminable periods of nonexistence. He then proposed that if death is an evil at all, it can only be because of what it deprives us of, since it has no positive features. He did not, however, agree with the idea that death is bad because it brings an end to all the good things in life. Nagel formulated that if all good and bad life experiences were removed, what i...
The term Euthanasia is derived from the Greek roots, taking the words ‘eu’, meaning good or well, and ‘thanatos’, meaning death, to create the term “good death ”. (Definition of Euthanasia . 2011) The term ‘Euthanasia’ is not defined specifically within Australian Legislation, however the generalised definition states that Euthanasia is intentionally taking another person’s life by the means of a direct action or depriving a person of the medical care needed to preserve life. (Euthanasia: What Does It Really Mean? Date Unknown). Linda Jackson (2005) continues to add that Euthanasia can then be further separated into four specified categories: Passive voluntary euthanasia, active voluntary euthanasia, passive involuntary euthanasia and active involuntary euthanasia. Voluntary Euthanasia will be the specified area that will be focused on within this assignment.
What would you consider the definition of the word “unbefriended”? The word is not identified in the Webster Dictionary, but has become a term used by many medical centers and lawyers who deal with cases of elderly people who have no one to make hard, life-changing decisions for them. Paula Span, author of the New York Times online blog, “The New Old Age”, explains the definition of this term through the use of stories, facts, and statistics. Readers learn shortly that the term is used to describe people who have outlived all of their closest relatives and friends, and therefore, have no appointed surrogate to make any medical decisions for them when they cannot make it themselves. In her article, “Near the End It's Best to be “Friended”, Paula Span informs and convinces her readers of the importance of electing a surrogate to carry out their final wishes should they become incapable of doing so themselves. Span achieves this intention through the use of the three rhetorical devices: ethos,
... in terms of living or dying. By this logic, people in vegetative states should also have rights analogous to that of an infant at least. Many people practice or research medicine for the altruistic reasons and derive pleasure and a purpose in life by restoring the injured and sick to proper health. If a potential treatment can be developed by doctors and researchers to restore people in vegetative states to normal cognitive levels, it would be considered wrong to allow such a person to die because, like an infant, there exists the chance for them to develop an ability to function as long as research is continued to find a way to reverse such a condition.
This definition is clearly vague, as he admits, however his idea imposes many questions to the logistics of this conception of immortality. I believe that when dealing with the idea of the mind or “soul” being immortal there are vast amounts of questions that can be asked, all with no definite answer. The reality that there are immensely different versions of an afterlife as Miller mentions, such as “[the] Greek idea that the body is a prison, from which we escape at death…then there are conceptions … we merge with the flow of being” (Perry, Pg. 66), adds to my argument against immortality being plausible. I believe this large spectrum of idea’s of what immortality consists of shows that it cannot be possible, because if Miller’s idea of immortality were true and it is possible to exist in the physical world again, naturally we would inherit the knowledge to come up with a more unanimous theory that is consistent across the globe. This conception also shows faults in the way that if all souls are immortal then we have to beg the question of when is a soul born, and if new souls are rapidly being created with our worlds growing population. Weirob brings up the idea of identification several times during her argument, saying that if the two of them were to meet again that this identification would have to be off the knowledge of the soul, which being immaterial and senseless seems to be implausible. I agree with Weirob in the way that it would not make logical sense that it is possible to identify people in the physical world after your soul has attatched to a different physical body, or in a metaphysical world. The dimensions of the soul seem to be beyond our physical capacity to identify, which makes me believe that there is no real truth to the subject all
In the book, Some Puzzles About the Evil of Death, it states that, “According to the most popular anti-Epicurean view, death is bad for a person primarily because it deprives him of certain goods, the goods he would have enjoyed if he had not died (Feldman).” This is known as the deprivation approach. In this situation, Doe would be deprived of good things such as marriage, having kids, meeting his grandkids, and etc. This is bad for Doe because he won’t be able to experience this when he ceases to exist. Also, the deprivation approach is important because it changes our perspective. If we know that death is bad, then we want to have as much of these goods as possible. Taking away Doe’s goods is like imprisoning an innocent man it is morally wrong. I believe that the deprivation approach is important because it sides with Feldman’s argument. It is a key reason why we should fear death and be aware of what we will be missing out on. We should cherish every second of our lives if we know that we are deprived of these
There are two ways to distinguish euthanasia, according to Munson. In some cases, it includes a lethal injection, which is an act of killing someone and this is referred to as “active euthanasia,” which is an act of...
Introduction Three thinkers form the foundations of modern-day sociological thinking. Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Each developed different theoretical approaches to help us understand the way societies function, and how we are determined by society. This essay will focus on the contrasts and similarities between Durkheim and Weber’s thoughts on how we are determined by society. It will then go on to argue that Weber provides us with the best account of modern life.
Euthanasia is defined by the physician preforming the act of death on the patient. While,
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, death is referred to the permanent cessation of all
Psychologists Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg were recognized as being exceptional from an early age. Having similar theories of intelligence, they both believe in a broader definition of intelligence than traditionally recognized. Both conclude there are far more complex functions involved. While learning of Gardner and Sternberg I found that in my own experiences follow examples of Sternberg's theory there is a definitions by Sternberg of intelligence states: “Intelligent behavior involves adapting to your environment, changing your environment, or selecting a better environment.” When I enrolled in school again after 10 years I found myself evaluating what I needed to change to in my enviroment to be successful in school. Adapting
There are many legal aspects that go into declaring what is and what is not brain death. In today’s society, many people, including medical professionals, judges and attorneys struggle to identify what exactly constitutes as brain death. According to, Smith“ the concept of brain death came about during the 1950’s when, as a consequence of developments in critical care, clinicians were faced for the first time with the prospect of an apparently ‘alive’ patient sustained by mechanical ventilation long after brain function had ceased”(Smith, 2011).
This question is asked by almost every human to themselves but none can explain it with all proofs. There are somehow people’s experiences who have been near death. The author says that it is very difficult to talk about death because this thinking can draw our own death closer and makes them more real and thinkable. However, the author has figured out something to compare death with. He compares death with dreamless sleep. Moody says, “Like the morning we wake up after a dreamless sleep, we are going to start a new life after our death.” He has made his experiences into three different categories. They are as; “
President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1981.