Does Death Define Us Analysis
Does death define us?
Non-philosophical source: In the science fiction film Avatar directed by James Cameron, Jake Sully, a paraplegic former marine, replaces his brother for the avatar project on Pandora, where humans are mining for a valuable mineral, unobtanium. However, there is a group of inhabitants called Na’vi who are forced to fight against human invaders because they were trying to assimilate them and deprive their harmony life with nature. Initially, Jake and his avatar is ordered to understand and learn from those native Na’vi and provide information to human about Na’vi‘s home tree which located on the richest deposits of unobtanium for hundreds of miles. But after the failure of diplomatic solution for the Na’vi to move, Colonel …show more content…
The term “define” means to find either unique properties which can separate this object from every other object or combination of properties that make the object unique. For example, when we “define” a square, we say a square is a shape that has four equal sides and four right angles. Those are defining properties of square because no other shapes have the same combination of properties; and this combination makes the square unique and distinguishable from any other shape. However, if there are only four equal sides or only four right angles, they cannot define a square since they are only part of the combination. Thus when we “define” something, we mean to find out all of the distinguishing characteristics one object has and separate these properties from any other objects; or to find a unique property which is enough to make an object distinguishable. Secondly, the word “us” has three potential definitions: individual human being, human beings as a whole, and all living things including human beings, animals, plants, bacteria and etc. It cannot include non-living things because it doesn’t make any sense to associate “death” with non-living things since they cannot die. Thus “us” has to refer to living things at least, whether it’s general or
Non-philosophical source: In the science fiction film Avatar directed by James Cameron, Jake Sully, a paraplegic former marine, replaces his brother for the avatar project on Pandora, where humans are mining for a valuable mineral, unobtanium. However, there is a group of inhabitants called Na’vi who are forced to fight against human invaders because they were trying to assimilate them and deprive their harmony life with nature. Initially, Jake and his avatar is ordered to understand and learn from those native Na’vi and provide information to human about Na’vi‘s home tree which located on the richest deposits of unobtanium for hundreds of miles. But after the failure of diplomatic solution for the Na’vi to move, Colonel …show more content…
The term “define” means to find either unique properties which can separate this object from every other object or combination of properties that make the object unique. For example, when we “define” a square, we say a square is a shape that has four equal sides and four right angles. Those are defining properties of square because no other shapes have the same combination of properties; and this combination makes the square unique and distinguishable from any other shape. However, if there are only four equal sides or only four right angles, they cannot define a square since they are only part of the combination. Thus when we “define” something, we mean to find out all of the distinguishing characteristics one object has and separate these properties from any other objects; or to find a unique property which is enough to make an object distinguishable. Secondly, the word “us” has three potential definitions: individual human being, human beings as a whole, and all living things including human beings, animals, plants, bacteria and etc. It cannot include non-living things because it doesn’t make any sense to associate “death” with non-living things since they cannot die. Thus “us” has to refer to living things at least, whether it’s general or