Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-147).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity International University, 2000. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-147).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 299-305).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-218). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1991. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-96).

The highest task of Philosophy, according to Socrates, is to teach man to die, to face death in the right way - the death in which the particular and the general are united, the death that concerns every one of us and at the same time does not concern anyone other than oneself . I agree completely with Socrates in his understanding of death - given that I have understood him correctly - and I believe that we should talk more about death and also dare to reflect upon the difficult issues that are related to it. This is not at all dangerous. But I take a very critical position in regard to his argument for immortality, the immortality of the soul, that is, the continued existence of the soul after the bodily, physical, death. Certainly, there may be a theoretical possibility that the soul somehow continues to exist after the physical death, but I do not think so. The only thing that remains of us, or rather after us, is the memory and the result of our actions in this life, that is, the result of the good or evil we have done against our fellow beings in this life. Death, in my opinion, understood as event or condition, is consequently one of the supernatural phenomena that makes us, we humans, human: a continuous inception and uncompleted wonder.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Chinese / Master / Master of Philosophy

This dissertation is arranged in three parts which address issues concerning death and immortality. These issues all revolve around the temporal limit imposed by death. I have endeavoured to pose some questions which have relevance to a society clutching onto traditional notions of an afterlife despite its headlong thrust into a technologically advanced future where ethical confusions abound. In the first chapter I examine the metaphysics of the soul because postulating an afterlife is the conventional response to death anxiety. I have noticed that many people cling to hope of immortality without having any understanding of the metaphysical architecture of this hope. Consequently, from a philosophical perspective, I contrast arguments on the soul by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Descartes. The second chapter emerges from a fascination with Epicurus's theory of living and, derivatively, of dying. It involves a comparison with (1) Aristotle's distinction between energeia (actuality) and kinesis (movement), and (2) the sybaritic hedonism of the Cyrenaics. Although the theme of this chapter is pleasure, it will be seen that pleasure lies embedded in the living project and is an important component in the drive for survival. In the third chapter I reflect on the meaning of life in conjunction with length of time lived. Here I compare the meaninglessness experienced by Leo Tolstoy (because his life is too short) and the meaninglessness experienced by the fictional character Elena Makropulos (because her life is too long). The Makropulos "case", both a play by Karel Capek and an opera by Leos Janacek, was introduced into the philosophical world by Bernard Williams.

This dissertation is arranged in three parts which address issues concerning death and immortality. These issues all revolve around the temporal limit imposed by death. I have endeavoured to pose some questions which have relevance to a society clutching onto traditional notions of an afterlife despite its headlong thrust into a technologically advanced future where ethical confusions abound. In the first chapter I examine the metaphysics of the soul because postulating an afterlife is the conventional response to death anxiety. I have noticed that many people cling to hope of immortality without having any understanding of the metaphysical architecture of this hope. Consequently, from a philosophical perspective, I contrast arguments on the soul by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Descartes. The second chapter emerges from a fascination with Epicurus's theory of living and, derivatively, of dying. It involves a comparison with (1) Aristotle's distinction between energeia (actuality) and kinesis (movement), and (2) the sybaritic hedonism of the Cyrenaics. Although the theme of this chapter is pleasure, it will be seen that pleasure lies embedded in the living project and is an important component in the drive for survival. In the third chapter I reflect on the meaning of life in conjunction with length of time lived. Here I compare the meaninglessness experienced by Leo Tolstoy (because his life is too short) and the meaninglessness experienced by the fictional character Elena Makropulos (because her life is too long). The Makropulos "case", both a play by Karel Capek and an opera by Leos Janacek, was introduced into the philosophical world by Bernard Williams.

This dissertation is arranged in three parts which address issues concerning death and immortality. These issues all revolve around the temporal limit imposed by death. I have endeavoured to pose some questions which have relevance to a society clutching onto traditional notions of an afterlife despite its headlong thrust into a technologically advanced future where ethical confusions abound. In the first chapter I examine the metaphysics of the soul because postulating an afterlife is the conventional response to death anxiety. I have noticed that many people cling to hope of immortality without having any understanding of the metaphysical architecture of this hope. Consequently, from a philosophical perspective, I contrast arguments on the soul by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Descartes. The second chapter emerges from a fascination with Epicurus's theory of living and, derivatively, of dying. It involves a comparison with (1) Aristotle's distinction between energeia (actuality) and kinesis (movement), and (2) the sybaritic hedonism of the Cyrenaics. Although the theme of this chapter is pleasure, it will be seen that pleasure lies embedded in the living project and is an important component in the drive for survival. In the third chapter I reflect on the meaning of life in conjunction with length of time lived. Here I compare the meaninglessness experienced by Leo Tolstoy (because his life is too short) and the meaninglessness experienced by the fictional character Elena Makropulos (because her life is too long). The Makropulos "case", both a play by Karel Capek and an opera by Leos Janacek, was introduced into the philosophical world by Bernard Williams.