Life, Death and Meaning: A Philosophical Approach 20(5)

Wednesday 20 September 2017 | 2pm-4pm |10 sessions

Tutor: Richard Norman | Canterbury campus | £105

Does the inevitability of death rob life of its meaning? This was the thought which tortured Tolstoy, driving his desperate search for the meaning of life and his envy of the simple faith of the peasants. Other philosophical thinkers have suggested that the fear of death is irrational. The ancient Epicureans, for instance, argued that since there is nothing to experience after death, there is nothing to fear. But if death is no loss, why should we value life? Is life sacred? What does that mean, and what are its implications for difficult moral questions about, say, assisted dying, or the artificial creation of life? In this course we shall approach these perennial questions from a philosophical perspective, looking not for profound truths but for a bit of clarity.