Death: Is It Evil?
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Death: Is It Evil?
People will always have fear of the unknown. The fact that mankind has not developed a solid theory for what happens to a person after they die invokes an uncomfortable uncertainty that forces us to question if death is in fact an evil or just another stage of our consciousness. Death is not uncommon to the general population but it can be said that we are desensitized to the thought of death until it becomes an experience that directly affects ones life. Socrates claims that death is one of two things; it is a dreamless sleep and is merely a relief of thought for the mind, or the soul is departing on its next venture. Nagel believes that death takes away the possibilities of life, and in this regard it may not be evil, but it is certainly not a positive state of the human condition. Death is frightening to people for a number of reasons: they do not know what will happen after death, the fear of punishment from whichever deity they may believe in, the feeling of so called “unfinished business” and lack of accomplishment of certain things in life and other remorseful reasons. I support Socrates argument that when we die we no longer exist as who we once were, but that our souls will transcend to another world to continue the souls new venture.
The general population tends to fear the things that they have no knowledge of. To Socrates, it would seem foolish to be afraid of the unknown. He would say death does not seem evil because not everything that is unknown is considered evil. “This thing that has come upon me be a good; and those of us who think that death is a evil must needs to be mistaken.”(Pg21) That means Socrates believes that death is not a bad thing, nor is it to be feared. When considering death Socrates explained two possible ways death may be experienced, and in both he specifically notes the lack of evil. On one side he thought death was a finite ending of existence, where the once conscious being no longer exists in a conscious state. On the other the soul transforms upon death, and it goes to another world, time, and place.
The theory of death being the end of existence involves the idea of eternal sleep. In this way death could be perceived as sleeping without dreaming, without thought or consciousness. Socrates states that it would be the best kind of sleep, as one would be able to attain complete and absolute relaxation. It would be a form of deep sleep that would continually recharge the person who would remain free from the duties of a physical life. Socrates also believes in other positive values of the eternal sleep, as any mortal discomforts would be released and all time would be perceived as a restful nights sleep “And if death is the absence of all consciousness, and like the sleep of one who slumbers are unbroken by any dreams, it will be a wonderful gain.” (Pg21)
The second theory, that the state of death would be the soul traveling to another place, is known as metempsychosis. This is the supposed transmigration at death, where the soul of a human or animal travels into a new body. “But if death is a journey to another place, and what we are told is true-that there are all who have died what good could be greater than this, my Judges?”(Pg21) Socrates would love for this to happen, and seemingly even looks forward to is. He explains that he could then get together with all the previous great souls from history (such as Homer, Orpheus, and Musaeus) and really get to know those past masters. They could converse and share knowledge about their experiences on earth. If this were the case, Socrates would be ready to die over and over to meet the great minds that he so admires.
Nagel asserts that death should mean and be nothing to man. As long as we exist, death is not with us; but when death comes, then we do not exist. If one no longer exists to experience the state of existence, then this state is neither bad nor good, as it is a state of nothingness. Though he believes death is not an experience to dread at any point in life, it is the “be all end all” to all forms