Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:17:59.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - In Defense of a Semi-Stoical Attitude about Ageing and Death

from Part I - Ageing and the Good Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2022

C. S. Wareham
Affiliation:
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Get access

Summary

Nearly everyone considers death to be a terrible harm and mortality a very sad feature of human existence. Consistent with this attitude, most people seem to believe that getting older (at least once we have grown up) is regrettable insofar as it brings us closer to death. Is it sensible to fear death and the ageing process that brings us closer to it? After rejecting one philosophical strategy for stoicism about death, I will contend that it is most reasonable not to fear death and ageing if we reach, or are likely to reach, the age of life expectancy with a decent quality of life. My first argument for this thesis appeals to what we can reasonably expect out of human life. My second argument appeals to the wisdom of overcoming what I will call our tendency towards “cosmic narcissism.”

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×