Does Death Render Life Absurd?

Southern Journal of Philosophy 57 (3):428-453 (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this paper, I assess the claim that death renders life absurd. First, I characterize absurdity as something we perceive in situations involving extreme disharmonies which strike us as unexpected or unacceptable. Next, I outline several potential disharmonies which death might introduce into our existence (such as the disharmony between our dignity and capacities, and the undignified annihilation which death promises), but suggest that these examples need not be seen as necessarily absurd; there are perspectives available to us from which these facts can appear to be acceptable aspects of life. Finally, I consider a more problematic case of absurdity—that human beings allegedly fail to grasp the truth of their mortality—but suggest that the underlying disharmony here can be eliminated provided we develop an authentic attitude toward death (and that this is possible, despite some objections). In short, I argue that none of the most obvious potential absurdities which might arise from our mortality are strong enough to entail the claim that death inevitably renders life absurd, at least on one plausible and interesting interpretation of that claim.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 98,098

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Philosophical suicide.Byron J. Stoyles - 2012 - Think 11 (30):73-84.
Value After Death.Christopher Frugé - 2022 - Ratio 35 (3):194-203.
Is Human Life Absurd?Billy Holmes - 2019 - Philosophia 47 (2):429-434.
Death in Mind: Life, Meaning and Mortality.Kathy Behrendt - 2020 - In Michael Cholbi & Travis Timmerman (eds.), Exploring the Philosophy of Death and Dying: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives. New York, NY: Routledge. pp. 245-252.
Death and the form of life.Finn Bowring - 2022 - European Journal of Social Theory 25 (3):349-365.
Absurdity, incongruity and laughter.Bob Plant - 2009 - Philosophy 84 (1):111-134.
To Die With Others.Alphonso Lingis - 2000 - Diacritics 30 (3):106-113.

Analytics

Added to PP
2019-09-07

Downloads
45 (#391,767)

6 months
12 (#236,299)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Joshua Lewis Thomas
Open University (UK)

Citations of this work

Add more citations

References found in this work

The View from Nowhere.Thomas Nagel - 1986 - Revue de Métaphysique et de Morale 92 (2):280-281.
The View from Nowhere.Thomas Nagel - 1986 - Ethics 98 (1):137-157.
The Myth of Sisyphus.Albert Camus - 1957 - Philosophical Review 66 (1):104-107.
On the Meaning of Life.John Cottingham - 2002 - New York: Routledge.
The Therapy of Desire.Martha C. Nussbaum - 1999 - Philosophical and Phenomenological Research 59 (3):785-786.

View all 11 references / Add more references