Sei sulla pagina 1di 5

Mullenax1

SamanthaMullenax MeganAltman YOLO:ThePhilosophyofDeath 31January,2014 EpicurusandYOLO Whatdoesitmeantodie?Isourinevitabledeathevenimportant?TheGreekphilosopher, Epicurus,attemptstoanswerthequestionsheadoninhisLettertoMenoeceus.Putsimply,deathis nottobefearedintheleast.Itisnothing.(Epicurus50)Weshouldliveourlifeinawaythatitisofthe bestqualitybutnotbeafraidofthecessationoflifethroughdeath.Thisisatdirectconflictwiththeidea ofYouOnlyLiveOnceorYOLO.TheviewofdeathinEpicureanstrainisfardifferentthantheone presentedinYOLO. Butfirst,tounderstandtheideaofdeathpresentedintheletter,onemustunderstandwhatlifeis accordingtoEpicurus.Lucretius,aRomanPhilosopherandanEpicurean,explainsthisinhispivotal workOnTheNatureofThings.EpicurusandhislaterfollowersorEpicureans,holdthateverythingis madeupoftinyparticlescalledatoms.(Lucretius31)InanideacalledMetaphysicalAtomism,welearn thatinEpicureanstrainofphilosophyalllifeisbelievedtocomefromthecollisionofatoms,nothing moreandnothingless.Thisincludesthemindandspirit.Theyarematerialobjects.Weseethem propellinglimbs,rousingthebodyfromsleep,changingexpressionsofthefaceandguidingandsteering thewholeman,activitiesthatclearlyallinvolvetouch,andtouchinturninvolvesmatter.(Lucretius32) Atomsarewhatgiveussensationinallpartsofthebody.Thatiswhatlifeessentiallyissensations. Thuslydeathistheceasingofthesesenseexperiences. Thatisalldeathisandeverwillbe.Thereisno"afterlife."Thegodshavenointerestinusso

Mullenax2

whywouldwehaveanafterlife?(Epicurus49)Tofeardeaththenisabsurd.Itisnotaneviltobefeared likeweaccustomedtobelieve.Itis"nothingtous,seeingthat,whenweare,deathisnotcome,and whendeathiscome,wearenot."(Epicurus50)Heissayingthroughthisthatthelivingdonot experiencedeath.Oncedeathhascometoourbodies,wearenolongerliving.Wenolongersense anythingsowecannotfeelpainindeath.Alltheatomsthatmakeuslivingdissolve. ItisimportanttounderstandthatEpicureansbelievethatthehappiestlifeisalifeofpleasure.By pleasuretheyarereferringtoabsenceofpain.Painiscausedbyunfulfilleddesires.Ablessedlifeisthe lifeofEpicureanAtaraxiaortranquility,tobefreeofpain.(Epicurus5051)Thispleasureisnottobe fulfilledbybingedrinkingandsex.Insteadwemustlivesimplyastoavoiduselessdesiresthatwill inevitablybringpaininthelongrun.(Epicurus5152)Prudenceinlifeisthekeytopleasure. Overindulgenceonlybringspain.(Epicurus52)ThatiswhyEpicurusadvisesustonotdwellontheidea ofdeath.Toconstantlylivelifeinawaythatmakesdeathanevilentity,thatistostrivethrough immortality,tobeatdeath,willonlycausepain.(Epicurus50)Thedesireforimmortalitywillneverbe fulfilledregardlessofwhatyoudoinlife.ByEpicurus'definitionofpain,thisunfulfilleddesirewillnever allowonetofindtranquilityinlife. Inthesamewaythatwemustn'tfeardear,wemustalsoneverusedeathasanescape.(Epicurus 50)Wecannotchosedeathasareprisefromevilbecausedeathisnothing.Howcannothingbean escape?Weshouldlivelifenotexpectingthefuturebutatthesametimenotexpectingdeath.Thinking ofdeathisuseless,itonlybringsharm.Whendeathdrawsnearweshouldnotbeupsetregardlessifour liveswerelongorshort.Heusesthemetaphorofameal.Taketwomeals.Onemealishugebutit consistsofabunchdollarcheeseburgersfromBurgerKing.Theotheronlyhasoneburgerbutitis madefromthefinestcattleintheworldandisonbreadmadefreshintherestaurant.Thequalityofthe

Mullenax3

secondmealoutweighsthequantityofthefirst.Thesamecanbesaidaboutlife.Amanwhoselifewas shortbutheexperiencedmuchpleasure(theabsenceofpain)hadabetterlifethananoldmanwho experiencedlittlepleasure.(Epicurious51)Thethingthatbothofthesemendohaveincommonthough isthatoncedeathoccurs,neither'slivesmeananything.Theyaredeadandnolongermatter. ThemodernphenomenonofYOLOconteststhisidea.MadepopularbytherapperDrake, YOLOinsiststhatwemustdowhateverwecaninthislife.Itdoesnotmatterifpainisinvolved,aslong aswegetthememory.Takeforexample,agroupofteenagersareabouttogospeedingthroughthe cityandactingrecklessly.Theymayknowthisisdangerousbutstilldoittogetimmediaterewards,i.e. thefun.Theydonotthinkaboutthepotentialpain.WeuseYOLOtotryandobtainimmortalitythrough thememoriesofourlives.Itimpliesthatwemustbeafraidofdeath.Bysayingthat"YouOnlyLive Once",onemustseethisasaproblem,thatdyingisabadthing.Wemustdoallwecantohave ourselvesliveoninthememoriesofpeopleafterdeathinsteadofacceptingdeathastheend. Theobviouscontrastamongstthesetwoideasisinteresting.Shouldwe,liketheEpicureans,live alifeofprudence.Alifeinwhichweputnothoughttotheideaofdeath.Insteadwelivelifeassimplyas possiblesomayachievetranquilityforhereandnow?OrshouldwefollowtheYOLOstrainof philosophy?Theonethatpushesustoliveourlivesingrandeur.Wherewecanbeatdeathbylivingon inthememoryoftheworld?Ultimatelyitbecomesaquestionofwhetherornottoacceptdeath.Either weacceptdeathastheendorwepushagainstthatidea.Ifonlytoliveonasmemories. Thedecisionhereisnotminetomakeforyou.ButIbelieveYOLOisthebetterchoiceforme. YOLOpushesustoimproveourlives.ItpushesustotakerisksthattheEpicureanswouldseeas painful.YeaImightexperiencegreaterpaininlifebutIwillalsoexperiencemoreintensepleasures. Epicureansarecontentwithavoidanceofpain(Epicurious51)butIwantmoreoutofthislife.Whether

Mullenax4

ornotonehaslifeafterdeathdoesnotmatterbecausewhileIamlivingonthisplain,Iwantmylifeto meansomething.

Mullenax5

WorksCited Epicurus.LettertoMenoeceus.GreekandRomanPhilosophyAfterAristotleEd.Jason Saunders.NewYork:FreePress,1966.4952.Print LucretiusOntheNatureofThingsGreekandRomanPhilosophyAfterAristotleEd.Jason Saunders.NewYork:FreePress,1966.1546.Print

Potrebbero piacerti anche