Death, badness, and the impossibility of experience

The Journal of Ethics 1 (4):341-353 (1997)
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Abstract

Some have argued (following Epicurus) that death cannot be a bad thing for an individual who dies. They contend that nothing can be a bad for an individual unless the individual is able to experience it as bad. I argue against this Epicurean view, offering examples of things that an individual cannot experience as bad but are nevertheless bad for the individual. Further, I argue that death is relevantly similar.

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Citations of this work

Death and existential value: In defence of Epicurus.Marcus Willaschek - 2022 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 106 (2):475-492.
The evil of death revisited.Harry S. Silverstein - 2000 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 24 (1):116–134.
A puzzle about death’s badness: Can death be bad for the paradise-bound?Taylor W. Cyr - 2016 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 80 (2):145-162.
El valor de la física para la sabiduría estoica: las Naturales Quaestiones de Séneca.Christian Pineda - 2025 - Diálogos. Revista de Filosofía de la Universidad de Puerto Rico 116:385-414.

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References found in this work

S.Marcus Willaschek, Jürgen Stolzenberg, Georg Mohr & Stefano Bacin - 2015 - In Marcus Willaschek, Jürgen Stolzenberg, Georg Mohr & Stefano Bacin, Kant-Lexikon. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 1995-2243.
The evil of death.Harry S. Silverstein - 1980 - Journal of Philosophy 77 (7):401-424.
Why is death bad?Anthony L. Brueckner & John Martin Fischer - 1986 - Philosophical Studies 50 (2):213-221.
How to Be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of Epicurus.Stephen E. Rosenbaum - 1986 - American Philosophical Quarterly 23 (2):217 - 225.
On the Randian Argument.Robert Nozick - 1971 - Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 52 (2):282.

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