Thomas Nagel: Death Suppose That Death Is the Permanent End of Human Existence

question 10

Essay

Thomas Nagel: Death
Suppose that death is the permanent end of human existence. If so, is death bad for the person who dies? Some argue that such a claim is senseless, on the grounds that nothing can be bad for a person who no longer exists. Nagel rejects these arguments, and defends the view that death is bad for us. In Nagel's view, death is not bad because of any of the positive features of death, but because it deprives us of the goods that life contains. Nagel defends his view from three objections.
The first objection is based on the assumption that nothing can be good or bad for someone unless it is experienced as pleasant or unpleasant. Because the dead do not experience anything, it seems that death cannot be bad for us. Nagel responds by denying the assumption behind the objection. We can be harmed by people betraying us behind our backs and without our knowledge, and we can even be harmed by people neglecting our wishes after our deaths.
The second objection is that death cannot be bad for a person, because after death there is simply no subject for which anything can be good or bad. In response, Nagel claims that it would be bad for a person to be reduced to the cognitive level of an infant, even if he remained perfectly content. The badness of such a fate is not undermined by the contention that the original person no longer exists, for the badness is grounded in the contrast between what actually transpired and possible alternatives. Such a fate is bad because it deprives a person of potential goods. Nagel claims that death is similar in this respect.
The third, and final, objection is this: because we were not harmed by our prenatal nonexistence, we cannot be harmed by posthumous nonexistence. Nagel responds that although our nonexistence before our birth did not deprive us of anything, death deprives us of time that we would otherwise be alive. Ultimately, then, Nagel concludes that these three objections fail to undermine the thought that death is bad for us.
-Write an essay critically examining what you take to be the best argument for the conclusion that death is bad. State the argument in detail, and then discuss what you think is the strongest objection to this argument. Do you think the original argument is sound? Why or why not?

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Definitions:

Impaired Note

A note receivable that has a reduced likelihood of being collected in full due to deterioration in the financial condition of the borrower.

Present Value

The present value of a sum of money or series of cash flows expected in the future, calculated using a specified discount or interest rate.

Contract Rate

It is the interest rate stated in a contract, such as a loan or lease agreement.

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Debt instruments that do not accrue interest over time, thus repaid at their face value.