We discuss two very different perspectives on death and death anxiety in class—the epicurean perspective and the existential perspective. Which perspective seems more plausible, more reasonable, or more valuable to you? Why? Be specific. You must include all the following elements in your work.
9 PARAGHS TOTAL. 2-3 PGS.
Philosophy 12: Death Anxiety Paper
We discuss two very different perspectives on death and death anxiety in class—the epicurean perspective and the
existential perspective. Which perspective seems more plausible, more reasonable, or more valuable to you? Why?
Be specific. You must include all the following elements in your paper (please write your response in paragraphs,
not numbered, listed, or bulleted):
Paragraph 1-Intro paragraph: what is death anxiety mean to you? Frame your paper by giving a scenario when you or
someone experiences death anxiety. Briefly explain how the two perspectives (epicurean and existential) we discussed in
class resolve death anxiety. Your last sentence in your first paragraph should include your thesis: which theory are you
choosing?
Paragraph 2: Explain how your chosen theory works in general. Include a quote from one of the articles.
Paragraph 3: Relate your theory to the real-life scenario you discussed in paragraph 1. Illustrate how your chosen theory
works in response to death anxiety. How does your theory work to make us feel better when experiencing death anxiety?
Paragraph 4: Anticipate an objection/problem/criticism to your chosen theory. Include a quote from one of the articles.
This could be a problem with your chosen theory or this could be a valid point from the other theory.
Paragraph 5: Address the anticipated objection/problem/criticism. How would your chosen theory respond to the
problem presented in paragraph 4?
Essay Format:
• 2-3 pages typed, double spaced, 12 point font. 2-3 pages is the minimum; there is no maximum.
• Papers that do not reach the required length or augment formats to seemingly reach a full page (i.e. larger
font, more than 1 inch margin, etc) will be deducted points. Papers that are not double spaced will be deducted points.
• You MUST use direct quotes from the articles. All work MUST be cited in your work, MLA style (author
and page number). Notes on the whiteboard do not count as quotes; quotes must be directly from the articles.
• Quotes should be meaningful and well-explained. Don’t include a “sound byte” quote (just a few words) and
always explain what the quote means and how it relates to your point.
• No cover sheet is necessary; no separate works cited page is necessary.
A note on grading:
• Warrants / “hamburgers”: Did you select meaningful quotes? Did you integrate them into your text well? Did
you stop to explain what your quote means and relate your quotes to your argument? There are no hanging
quotes, not too many or too few quotes.
• Organization: Do you follow the outline? Can I follow your argument? Do your points follow through on an
organized path and support your overall argument?
• Examples: Do you have specific and relevant examples? Do you connect your examples back to your points?
• Mechanics: Did you follow instructions (double spacing, correct font and spacing)? Do you use correct
grammar, spelling, citation, etc.? Do you use academic language (no slang)?
o Writing is very different from having a conversation. Instead of writing, “Death is nothing to us, so
why should I stress over it?” write, “Death is nothing to us, therefore death does not need to cause us
stress.” Assert yourself in your writing and be clear.
• Content: Overall, how well have you demonstrated your understanding of this topic? Have you thought about
it deeply? Do you give the opposing view a “fair shake”? Do you make it relevant, thoughtful, and
insightful? Is it concise and thoughtful or is your paper vague or a regurgitation of class notes?
**Since I have given you a sample outline, I will answer questions about the prompt/instructions, but I will not read
drafts. Please visit the writing center or collaborate with classmates for drafts or proofreading.
**A NOTE ON PLAGIARISM**: See syllabus for policy on plagiarism. If your assignment contains plagiarism, it
will receive a zero and you will not be allowed to redo it. Again, if you have questions, please see me.
**Please check the Semester Schedule for due date**
Late Papers will be deducted an automatic 10%
No Papers will be accepted after the late deadline
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“Letter to Menoeceus” Epicurus
In this letter, Epicurus summarizes his ethical doctrines:
Epicurus to Menoeceus, greetings:
Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it.
[…]
Accustom yourself to believing that death is nothing to us, for good and evil imply the capacity for sensation, and death is the privation of all sentience; therefore a correct understanding that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life enjoyable, not by adding to life a limitless time, but by taking away the yearning after immortality. For life has no terrors for him who has thoroughly understood that there are no terrors for him in ceasing to live. Foolish, therefore, is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will pain when it comes, but because it pains in the prospect. Whatever causes no annoyance when it is present, causes only a groundless pain in the expectation. Death, therefore, the most awful of evils, is nothing to us, seeing that, when we are, death is not come, and, when death is come, we are not. It is nothing, then, either to the living or to the dead, for with the living it is not and the dead exist no longer.
But in the world, at one time men shun death as the greatest of all evils, and at another time choose it as a respite from the evils in life. The wise man does not deprecate life nor does he fear the cessation of life. The thought of life is no offense to him, nor is the cessation of life regarded as an evil. And even as men choose of food not merely and simply the larger portion, but the more pleasant, so the wise seek to enjoy the time which is most pleasant and not merely that which is longest. And he who admonishes the young to live well and the old to make a good end speaks foolishly, not merely because of the desirability of life, but because the same exercise at once teaches to live well and to die well. Much worse is he who says that it were good not to be born, but when once one is born to pass quickly through the gates of Hades. For if he truly believes this, why does he not depart from life? It would be easy for him to do so once he were firmly convinced. If he speaks only in jest, his words are foolishness as those who hear him do not believe.
We must remember that the future is neither wholly ours nor wholly not ours, so that neither must we count upon it as quite certain to come nor despair of it as quite certain not to come.
We must also reflect that of desires some are natural, others are groundless; and that of the natural some are necessary as well as natural, and some natural only. And of the necessary desires some are necessary if we are to be happy, some if the body is to be rid of uneasiness, some if we are even to live. He who has a clear and certain understanding of these things will direct every preference and aversion toward securing health of body and tranquility of mind, seeing that this is the sum and end of a blessed life. For the end of all our actions is to be free from pain and fear, and, when once we have attained all this, the tempest of the soul is laid; seeing that the living creature has no need to go in search of something that is lacking, nor to look for anything else by which the good of the soul and of the body will be fulfilled. When we are pained because of the absence of pleasure, then, and then only, do we feel the need of pleasure. Wherefore we call pleasure the alpha and omega of a blessed life. Pleasure is our first and kindred good. It is the starting-point of every choice and of every aversion, and to it we come back, inasmuch as we make feeling the rule by which to judge of every good thing.
[…]
Who, then, is superior in your judgment to such a man? He holds a holy belief concerning the gods, and is altogether free from the fear of death. He has diligently considered the end fixed by nature, and understands how easily the limit of good things can be reached and attained, and how either the duration or the intensity of evils is but slight. Fate, which some introduce as sovereign over all things, he scorns, affirming rather that some things happen of necessity, others by chance, others through our own agency. For he sees that necessity destroys responsibility and that chance is inconstant; whereas our own actions are autonomous, and it is to them that praise and blame naturally attach. It were better, indeed, to accept the legends of the gods than to bow beneath that yoke of destiny which the natural philosophers have imposed. The one holds out some faint hope that we may escape if we honor the gods, while the necessity of the naturalists is deaf to all entreaties. Nor does he hold chance to be a god, as the world in general does, for in the acts of a god there is no disorder; nor to be a cause, though an uncertain one, for he believes that no good or evil is dispensed by chance to men so as to make life blessed, though it supplies the starting-point of great good and great evil. He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool. It is better, in short, that what is well judged in action should not owe its successful issue to the aid of chance.
Exercise yourself in these and related precepts day and night, both by yourself and with one who is like-minded; then never, either in waking or in dream, will you be disturbed, but will live as a god among men. For man loses all semblance of mortality by living in the midst of immortal blessings.
How to cite for your paper:
In “A Letter to Menoeceus, Epicurus states, “………..” (1).
“……………” (Epicurus, 1).