In this collection of essays on the metaphysical issues pertaining to
death, the meaning of life, and freedom of the will, John Martin
Fischer argues (against the Epicureans) that death can be a bad thing
for the individual who dies. He defends the claim that something can
be a bad thing--a misfortune--for an individual, even if he never
experiences it as bad (and even if he does not any longer exist).
Fischer also defends the commonsense asymmetry in our attitudes toward
death and prenatal nonexistence: we are indifferent to the time before
we are born, but we regret that we do not live longer. Further,
Fischer argues (against the immortality curmudgeons, such as Heidegger
and Bernard Williams), that immortal life could be desirable, and
shows how the defense of the (possible) badness of death and the
(possible) goodness of immortality exhibit a similar structure; on
Fischer's view, the badness of death and the goodness of life can be
represented on spectra that display certain continuities. Building on
Fischer's previous book, _My Way_ a major aim of this volume is to
show important connections between issues relating to life and death
and issues relating to free will. More specifically, Fischer argues
that we endow our lives with a certain distinctive kind of meaning--an
irreducible narrative dimension of value--by exhibiting free will.
Thus, in acting freely, we transform our lives so that our stories
matter.
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Essays on Life, Death, and Free Will
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780199705306
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter