Chpt 4

1. M. Scott Peck: "We get to die... I don't know about you, but I'm getting a bit tired. Not so tired that I'm ready to call it quits, but if I thought I'd have to wade through this crap for another three or four hundred years, I would cash in my chis sooner rather than later." Does Peck have a pessimistic view of life? Is he waiting for Godot?
2. Epicurus believed that nothing comes from nothing, that nothing exists except for atoms moving in void, and that the soul therefore must be made of atoms. With this in mind, death therefore must be the natural dispersion of particular combination of atoms that comprise a human soul. What does this say about the belief in afterlife? Is death truly the end?
3. Can the acceptance of death truly relieve anxiety?

Chpt 3

Prompts courtesy of Christy:

1. Are we the only animal that is aware of its mortality? What do we make of the fact that we will die? What do we feel in response to that fact and why?
2. Rank states: "We have a need to feel that life matters, that we are both special and a part of something larger and more encompassing." Do you agree? Why?
3. Epicurus stated: "When I am, death is not, and when death is, I am not." Is he right? Based on this statement is fear and anxiety concerning death irrational?

Paper assignments/prompts

Paper 2

Paper 2 (due various—see syllabus)

Choose one of these topics for your 2ndpaper.  In about 3 pages, double-spaced in length, you are aiming to clearly state a position (whatever it is) and support your claim with relevant evidence (i.e., reasons).  Your paper must be well-written and free from grammatical, spelling, etc. types of errors, so that your philosophical reasoning can shine through.

1. From both the Palmer and Barry texts, use either Kierkegaard or Sartre (not both) to discuss the general topic of the self.  Explain which (if either) provides a more accurate or reasonable view (your perspective) about the self.  What do you think that Kierkegaard or Sartre would say to Barry (as detailed in chapters 3 and 5) about the self in relation to death.  In other words, how important is the fear of death to the creation or existence of the self?  Do you agree with the existentialists?  Why or why not? (due as we read the existentialists)
2. Regarding chapter 5 of Barry, do you think that human nature is dualistic?  This could mean several different things, so you might consider whether our minds are separate from our bodies (which involves thinking about whether our minds are separate from our brains)?  Are souls different from minds?  Are souls separate from the body?  Do souls live on after the body has died?  You might want to focus on either Plato or Descartes, rather than both. (when we read Descartes or Plato, whichever applies to you)

Futile Treatment

We'll read more about this toward the end of your text & the course, but you might want to start the discussion now.  There are medical definitions of futility.  Here's an older article about it:
http://www.francesmccue.com/documents/Ethicist%20reading.pdf
And a more recently updated webpage:
http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/futil.html
A blog:
http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/

Connections between end of life and beginning of life

Dear Good Students,
I'm trusting you to be gentle with each other, but if you want to discuss the relationships between your definitions of death and their implications for treatment, organ donation, divorce (see Pat Robertson comments in Current Events), etc. as well as how that impacts one's thinking about the beginning of life, abortion, fetal / newborn / infant organ and tissue donation, and embryonic stem-cell research, please do so here.  This could be the most interesting discussion of the course.  You are encouraged to use your moral imaginations, and to respond under the guidance of the intellectual virtues:  Intellectual Humility, Courage, Empathy, Autonomy, Integrity, Perseverance, Confidence in Reason, & Fair-mindedness.  Feel free to explore a view you don't necessarily believe, for the sake of having a devil's advocate.

If you would like to be anonymous, you can send your response to me (so I'll be able to give you credit), and I'll post for you without an identifier.


I'm looking forward to it.

Music / Film / Books

*new* a review of a book by Joan Didion, who lost both her husband and daughter in a very short period of time:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/books/blue-nights-by-joan-didion-review.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28



Students,

Collectively, we've got a lot of knowledge about music, film, and books that deal directly or indirectly with death and dying.  Post your favorites (what's most meaningful to you) here.

Books
Katrina Kittle's Traveling Light (http://katrinakittle.com/?page_id=100)

Music
Poor Wayfaring Stranger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wayfaring_Stranger_%28song%29
Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_the_Circle_Be_Unbroken_%28Bye_and_Bye%29

Film
I just watched Hud, an old black-and-white with a very young Paul Newman.  Lots of death and grief.

Current Events (Sept)

* new*  28 Sept
http://mobile.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2011/09/27/moved_in_with_daughter/index.html 
This is a letter from a grown woman who moved to help her daughter and granddaughter as their husband/father was dying.  I was really moved by the advice -- so compassionate, so virtuous.

17 Sept
Dignity Therapy -- helps people feel that they've said what they want to say to those who are important to them, making for a more comfortable death:
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/15/140508715/recording-a-life-in-ones-final-days?sc=tw

16 Sept
Check out this episode of TEDTalks (video) at TED: Joan Halifax: Compassion and the true meaning of empathy - Joan Halifax (2010) - http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TEDTalks_video/~3/XpYzWIsyyP0/joan_halifax.html

"I do not fear death"  Salon.com
http://mobile.salon.com/books/2011/09/15/roger_ebert/index.html

Pat Robertson on Alzheimer's & divorce
http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/pat-robertson-says-alzheimers-makes-divorce-ok-000952197.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us
 
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
When it comes to their own health, doctors are as irrational as everyone else. http://nyti.ms/qoAafU

Freud

What would you salvage and what would you toss from Freud's theory of human  nature?  Is it true that we are sexual beings?  How big a role does & should sex play in our lives?

Could Freud's theory ever be proven wrong?  How?

What essential element(s) of human nature does Freud miss?

Medieval Christians

What questions could you raise about Christianity from the Medieval period?  What still remains in Christianity from that time period?  What has changed?  Does it comfort you or irritate you that Christianity is such an old religion?  Regarding depth of history, compare Catholicism to Protestantism and especially stand-alone churches.  Perhaps compare a Christian way of life to a Buddhist path?

Buddhism

Is Buddhism a religion?  (Do humans necessarily need religion?)  Other thoughts about Buddhism?