Abstract
Death is a bad thing by virtue of its ability to frustrate the subjectively valuable projects that shape our identities and render our lives meaningful. While the presumption that immortality would necessarily result in boredom worse than death proves unwarranted, if the constraint of mortality is a necessary element for virtues, relationships, and motivation to pursue our life-projects, then death might nevertheless be a necessary evil. Mortal or immortal, it’s clear that the value of one’s life depends on its subjectively determined quality, rather than its quantity. Thus, it is imperative to live forever in the present, with flourishing always in mind.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Epicurus, (1926). Letter to Menoeceus. In The extant remains. Cyril Bailey (Trans.) Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Feldman F. (1992). Confrontations with the reaper. A philosophical study on the nature and value of death. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Fischer J.M. (2004). Why immortality is not so bad. In: Benatar D. (ed). Life, death, and meaning. Lanham, Rowman & Littlefied, Inc., pp. 349–363
Foucault, M. (1984). The Foucault reader P. Rabinow (Ed.), New York: Pantheon Books.
Kaufmann, W. (1976). Death without Dread. In Existentialism, religion, and death: Thirteen essays (pp. 224–248). New York: Meridian.
Lucretius (1994). On the nature of the universe. (Trans. R.E. Latham. Introduction and notes by John Godwin.) London: Penguin Books.
Luper-Foy S. (1987). Annihilation. The Philosophical Quarterly 37(148): 233–252
Nagel T. (1987). What does it all mean?. Oxford, Oxford University Press
Nietzsche, F. (1967). The birth of tragedy. In The birth of tragedy and the case of Wagner (Trans. Walter Kaufmann.) New York: Vintage Books.
Nietzsche F. (1974). The gay science. (Trans. Walter Kaufmann.) New York, Vintage Books
Nussbaum M.C. (1994). The therapy of desire. Theory and practice in Hellenistic ethics. Princeton, Princeton University Press
Rorty, R. (1989). Contingency, irony, and solidarity (p. 97). Cambridge University Press.
Shusterman, R. (2000). Pragmatist aesthetics. Living beauty, rethinking art (2nd ed.). New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Williams, B. (1973). The Makropulos Case. In Problems of the self. Philosophical Papers 1956–1972 (pp. 82–100). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Preston, T.M., Dixon, S. Who wants to live forever? Immortality, authenticity, and living forever in the present. Int J Philos Relig 61, 99–117 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-007-9114-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-007-9114-0