Death by Nagel
"Death”
At the beginning of Death, Thomas Nagel questions: “If death is the unequivocal and permanent end to our existence, the question arises whether it is a bad thing to die.” Nagel wonders whether death is evil or not. To some people, like the hedonists, death is not bad. They propose the idea that a person is harmed when he or she has an unpleasant mental state. Furthermore, the hedonists also think a person is harmed when he or she suffers, and somebody is suffered when he or she is alive. Hence, when a person dies, he or she cannot be harmed. Death is the end of a subject. However, Nagel does not agree with the hedonists. He believes death is evil. The author introduces the objections of the hedonist as an opposing voice to argue against the idea that death is not evil.
To lead the reader into his own argument, the author proposes the hedonists’ three objections about why they think death is not bad. Then, he opposes these objections by providing three rebuttals. The first objection is death cannot be evil if it cannot be experienced. We imagine how bad it is to be dead; yet we cannot experience death until it happens. In response to the first objection, Nagel states harm does not equal suffering. To him, some harms have to be experienced but a person does not have to go through all of them in order to be sustained. The author gives an example of a man is betrayed and ridiculed by his friends behind his back. To the hedonist, this man does not suffer from any harm, since he does not have any idea about it - what you do not know cannot hurt you. According to the hedonist, he has to have an unpleasant mental state in order to sustain. Nagel opposes to this idea. He thinks this man still suffers. The author states: “… its discovery makes us unhappy.” Nagel means that even though this person does not have any idea he has been betrayed; but in the future, he might be able to find out about it, he will be suffered. As a result, a person still suffers from harm
At the beginning of Death, Thomas Nagel questions: “If death is the unequivocal and permanent end to our existence, the question arises whether it is a bad thing to die.” Nagel wonders whether death is evil or not. To some people, like the hedonists, death is not bad. They propose the idea that a person is harmed when he or she has an unpleasant mental state. Furthermore, the hedonists also think a person is harmed when he or she suffers, and somebody is suffered when he or she is alive. Hence, when a person dies, he or she cannot be harmed. Death is the end of a subject. However, Nagel does not agree with the hedonists. He believes death is evil. The author introduces the objections of the hedonist as an opposing voice to argue against the idea that death is not evil.
To lead the reader into his own argument, the author proposes the hedonists’ three objections about why they think death is not bad. Then, he opposes these objections by providing three rebuttals. The first objection is death cannot be evil if it cannot be experienced. We imagine how bad it is to be dead; yet we cannot experience death until it happens. In response to the first objection, Nagel states harm does not equal suffering. To him, some harms have to be experienced but a person does not have to go through all of them in order to be sustained. The author gives an example of a man is betrayed and ridiculed by his friends behind his back. To the hedonist, this man does not suffer from any harm, since he does not have any idea about it - what you do not know cannot hurt you. According to the hedonist, he has to have an unpleasant mental state in order to sustain. Nagel opposes to this idea. He thinks this man still suffers. The author states: “… its discovery makes us unhappy.” Nagel means that even though this person does not have any idea he has been betrayed; but in the future, he might be able to find out about it, he will be suffered. As a result, a person still suffers from harm