Anthropologist Ernest Becker, in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death, says that denying death is a necessary part of functioning in the world. It’s what inspires us to create culture, religion, and love, allowing us to avoid death and achieve immortality.
But perhaps there is another way — besides denial — to relate to death. What should our relationship with death look like? And, how often — and to what degree — should we contemplate our mortality?
Today's episode addresses these questions. You'll hear from philosophy professor Susanna Siegel (Harvard), and medical ethicist Lydia Dugdale (Columbia) in a Forum Event hosted at Harvard University in February 2023.
Lydia Dugdale
Susanna Siegel
When we do think about death, it should bring into relief that which matters most, right? If I am a finite creature, ... there's a certain urgency to living intentionally into every day in light of my finiteness.
Those diagnoses, those moments, those kind of wake-up calls, put things into perspective. And I don't think we want to go through life — maybe unless you're a poet hoping for drama and tragedy — so that you kind of constantly put your life in focus. ... But is there a way that we can have the end in view and make better decisions?
Death disrupts all temporal orientations because, in death, there is no more temporal orientation. You are dead. That is the end. There is nothing more to orient you. And that is why it is so terrifying.
