Authors: David Benatar
ISBN-13: 9781442201699, ISBN-10: 144220169X
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Date Published: January 2010
Edition: (Non-applicable)
Do our lives have meaning? Should we create more people? Is death bad? Should we commit suicide? Would it be better to be immortal? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic? Since Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions first appeared, David BenatarOs distinctive anthology designed to introduce students to the key existential questions of philosophy has won a devoted following among users in a variety of upper-level and even introductory courses.
Preface xi
Introduction 1
Part I The Meaning of Life
1 The Meaning of Life Richard Taylor 21
2 The Absurd Thomas Nagel 31
3 "Nothing Matters" Richard Hare 43
4 Philosophy and the Meaning of Life W. D. Joske 51
5 Philosophy and the Meaning of Life Robert Nozick 65
6 The Meanings of Life David Schmidtz 93
Suggestions for Further Reading on the Meaning of Life 115
Part II Creating People
7 Whether Causing Someone to Exist Can Benefit This Person Derek Parfit 119
8 Why Not Let Life Become Extinct? John Leslie 125
9 On Becoming Extinct James Lenman 137
10 Why It Is Better Never to Come into Existence David Benatar 157
Suggestions for Further Reading on Creating People 171
Part III Death
11 How to Be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of Epicurus Stephen E. Rosenbaum 175
12 The Misfortunes of the Dead George Pitcher 191
13 Annihilation Steven Luper 201
14 Some Puzzles About the Evil of Death Fred Feldman 223
15 Pie-Vital and Post-Mortem Non-Existence Frederik Kaufman 243
16 Why Death Is Not Bad for the One Who Died David B. Suits 267
Suggestions for Further Reading on Death 287
Part IV Suicide
17 Of Suicide David Hume 291
18 Suicide and Duty Immanuel Kant 299
19 Suicide: A Qualified Defense David Benatar 307
Suggestions for Further Reading on Suicide 333
Part V Immortality
20 Immortality: A Letter James Lenman 337
21 The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality Bernard Williams 345
22 Why Immortality Is Not So Bad John Martin Fischer 363
23 "From Here to Eternity": Is It Good to Live Forever? Christine Overall 379
Suggestions for Further Reading on Immortality 395
Part VI Optimism andPessimism
24 Optimism Margaret A. Boden 399
25 The Consolations of Optimism Michaelis Michael Peter Caldwell 413
26 The Sad Truth: Optimism, Pessimism, and Pragmatism Bruce N. Waller 423
27 On the Sufferings of the World Arthur Schopenhauer 431
Suggestions for Further Reading on Optimism and Pessimism 441
Index 443
About the Contributors 447