Question 1

According to Gilmore, the correct solution to the Paradox of Cryptobiosis says that

Accepted Answer

A)  propositions (1) - (3) are not inconsistent. 
B)  proposition (1), that Grady is not alive, is false. Grady is alive. 
C)  proposition (2), that Grady is not dead, is false. Grady is dead. 
D)  proposition (3), that everything is either alive or dead, is false. Grady is neither alive nor dead. 
E)  there are at least two different senses of the words 'dead'. In one sense, proposition (2) is true and (1) is false. In the other sense, proposition (2) is false and (1) is true. 
A)  propositions (1) - (3) are not inconsistent. 
B)  proposition (1), that Grady is not alive, is false. Grady is alive. 
C)  proposition (2), that Grady is not dead, is false. Grady is dead. 
D)  proposition (3), that everything is either alive or dead, is false. Grady is neither alive nor dead. 
E)  there are at least two different senses of the words 'dead'. In one sense, proposition (2) is true and (1) is false. In the other sense, proposition (2) is false and (1) is true. D

Question 2

Cessation is the view that to die is to cease to be alive. According to Gilmore, Cessation

Accepted Answer

A)  is true and informative. 
B)  is true but uninformative. 
C)  is false because things can die without then ceasing to be alive. When a tardigrade becomes cryptobiotic, it does die, but retains the capacity to undergo the relevant processes, so it doesn't cease to be alive. 
D)  is false because things can cease to be alive without then dying. When a tardigrade becomes cryptobiotic, it does cease to be alive, but it doesn't then die. 
E)  is false because there is more than one sense of 'die' and of 'alive'. 
A)  is true and informative. 
B)  is true but uninformative. 
C)  is false because things can die without then ceasing to be alive. When a tardigrade becomes cryptobiotic, it does die, but retains the capacity to undergo the relevant processes, so it doesn't cease to be alive. 
D)  is false because things can cease to be alive without then dying. When a tardigrade becomes cryptobiotic, it does cease to be alive, but it doesn't then die. 
E)  is false because there is more than one sense of 'die' and of 'alive'. D

Question 3

According to Gilmore, which of the following are all internal properties?

Accepted Answer

A)  being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being alive, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F. 
B)  being dead, being 2 kg in mass. 
C)  being 2 kg in mass, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F, having existed for more than two days. 
D)  being in the path of a falling boulder, having existed for more than two days, being dead 
E)  being alive, being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being cryptobiotic, being dead. 
A)  being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being alive, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F. 
B)  being dead, being 2 kg in mass. 
C)  being 2 kg in mass, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F, having existed for more than two days. 
D)  being in the path of a falling boulder, having existed for more than two days, being dead 
E)  being alive, being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being cryptobiotic, being dead. A

Question 4

According to Gilmore, Activists and Capacitists disagree about

Accepted Answer

A)  which vital processes (metabolism? growth? reproduction?) are relevant to whether a thing is alive. 
B)  the biochemistry of metabolism and what is occurring at the biochemical level in cryptobiotic organisms. Activists say that all chemical reactions have ceased in these organisms; Capacitists say that these reactions continue but at a much reduced rate. 
C)  whether organisms that are not undergoing the relevant vital processes, but that are capable of doing so, count as alive. Capacitists say 'Yes'; Activists say 'No'. 
D)  whether rocks are examples of things that neither alive nor dead. 
E)  whether cryptobiotic tardigrades have the capacity to return to an active state in response to suitable changes in environmental conditions. 
A)  which vital processes (metabolism? growth? reproduction?) are relevant to whether a thing is alive. 
B)  the biochemistry of metabolism and what is occurring at the biochemical level in cryptobiotic organisms. Activists say that all chemical reactions have ceased in these organisms; Capacitists say that these reactions continue but at a much reduced rate. 
C)  whether organisms that are not undergoing the relevant vital processes, but that are capable of doing so, count as alive. Capacitists say 'Yes'; Activists say 'No'. 
D)  whether rocks are examples of things that neither alive nor dead. 
E)  whether cryptobiotic tardigrades have the capacity to return to an active state in response to suitable changes in environmental conditions.

Question 5

According to Gilmore, which of the following are all non-internal properties?

Accepted Answer

A)  being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being alive, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F. 
B)  being dead, being 2 kg in mass. 
C)  being 2 kg in mass, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F, having existed for more than two days. 
D)  being in the path of a falling boulder, having existed for more than two days, being dead 
E)  being alive, being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being cryptobiotic, being dead. 
A)  being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being alive, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F. 
B)  being dead, being 2 kg in mass. 
C)  being 2 kg in mass, having a temperature of 98.6 degrees F, having existed for more than two days. 
D)  being in the path of a falling boulder, having existed for more than two days, being dead 
E)  being alive, being capable of undergoing the relevant vital processes, being cryptobiotic, being dead.

Question 6

Recall that Grady is Gilmore's example of a tardigrade in cryptobiosis. According to Gilmore, the Capacitist solution to the Paradox of Cryptobiosis says that

Accepted Answer

A)  propositions (1) - (3) are not inconsistent. 
B)  proposition (1), that Grady is not alive, is false. Grady is alive. 
C)  proposition (2), that Grady is not dead, is false. Grady is dead. 
D)  proposition (3), that everything is either alive or dead, is false. Grady is neither alive nor dead. 
E)  there are at least two different senses of the words 'dead'. In one sense, proposition (2) is true and (1) is false. In the other sense, proposition (2) is false and (1) is true. 
A)  propositions (1) - (3) are not inconsistent. 
B)  proposition (1), that Grady is not alive, is false. Grady is alive. 
C)  proposition (2), that Grady is not dead, is false. Grady is dead. 
D)  proposition (3), that everything is either alive or dead, is false. Grady is neither alive nor dead. 
E)  there are at least two different senses of the words 'dead'. In one sense, proposition (2) is true and (1) is false. In the other sense, proposition (2) is false and (1) is true.

Question 7

Gilmore claims that so-called 'brain dead' patients are either alive or dead: unlike cryptobiotic organisms, they are not 'somewhere in between'. In your own words, explain and critically evaluate his argument for this claim. Optional: Present what you take to be the best reasons in support of the opposing claim that these patients are neither alive nor dead.

Accepted Answer

Gilmore's argument is based on the idea

Question 8

What is Capacitism? In your own words, explain and critically evaluate Gilmore's argument against Capacitism. What, in your view, is the Capacitist's best strategy for replying to that argument? Is that reply successful? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

Capacitism is a term coined by philosoph

Exam 4: What It Is to Die

According to Gilmore, the correct solution to the Paradox of Cryptobiosis says that

Cessation is the view that to die is to cease to be alive. According to Gilmore, Cessation

According to Gilmore, which of the following are all internal properties?

According to Gilmore, Activists and Capacitists disagree about

According to Gilmore, which of the following are all non-internal properties?

Recall that Grady is Gilmore's example of a tardigrade in cryptobiosis. According to Gilmore, the Capacitist solution to the Paradox of Cryptobiosis says that

What is Capacitism? In your own words, explain and critically evaluate Gilmore's argument against Capacitism. What, in your view, is the Capacitist's best strategy for replying to that argument? Is that reply successful? Why or why not?

Defining Death

Defining Death in a Technological World

We Die When Entropy Overwhelms Homeostasis

The Tragic Sense of Life Excerpts

Can We Survive Our Deaths

The Possibility of an Afterlife

Letter to Menoeceus

Two Arguments for Epicureanism

Why Death Is Not Bad for the One Who Dies

Death Is Bad for Us When Were Dead

Making Death Not Quite As Bad for the One Who Dies

On the Nature of Things Excerpts

If You Want to Die Later, Then Why Dont You Want to Have Been Born Earlier

Coming Into and Going Out of Existence

The Epic of Gilgamesh Excerpts

The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die

How to Live a Never-Ending Novela

Taking Stock of the Risks of Life Without Death

Immortality, Boredom, and Standing for Something

Death, Mortality, and Meaning

Fitting Attitudes Towards Deprivations

The Enchiridion Excerpts

Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion Excerpts

Voluntary Death Excerpts

Letter to Lucilius

Why Grieve

The Significance of Future Generations

Death and Survival Online

Whether One Is Allowed to Kill Oneself Excerpts

Of Suicide Excerpts

Suicide Is Sometimes Rational and Morally Defensible

Suicide and Its Discontents

An Irrational Suicide

World As Will and Representation Excerpts

Death in Mind

Meaning in Life in Spite of Death

Out of the Blue Into the Black

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