Question 1

According to Beglin, why does immortal life threaten us with boredom?

Accepted Answer

A)  Because there is nothing to which we could indefinitely commit ourselves 
B)  Because immortality would dilute the significance of our commitments 
C)  Because our imaginative capacities are limited 
D)  All of the above 
E)  None of the above 
A)  Because there is nothing to which we could indefinitely commit ourselves 
B)  Because immortality would dilute the significance of our commitments 
C)  Because our imaginative capacities are limited 
D)  All of the above 
E)  None of the above B

Question 2

According to Bernard Williams, immortality would...

Accepted Answer

A)  Necessarily undermine our ability to meaningfully relate to the world 
B)  Necessarily undermine the value in the world 
C)  Require us to adopt certain inexhaustible ends to be meaningful 
D)  Just represent a different form of life 
E)  None of the above 
A)  Necessarily undermine our ability to meaningfully relate to the world 
B)  Necessarily undermine the value in the world 
C)  Require us to adopt certain inexhaustible ends to be meaningful 
D)  Just represent a different form of life 
E)  None of the above A

Question 3

What is the lingering hope that Beglin identifies with respect to his argument that immortality would dilute the significance of our commitments?

Accepted Answer

A)  Perhaps we could live meaningful lives with a radically different way of relating to the world 
B)  Perhaps we could commit ourselves to certain abstract, inexhaustible ends, without having to commit to anything new. 
C)  Perhaps substantive commitments aren't made against a background of finitude. 
D)  None of the above 
A)  Perhaps we could live meaningful lives with a radically different way of relating to the world 
B)  Perhaps we could commit ourselves to certain abstract, inexhaustible ends, without having to commit to anything new. 
C)  Perhaps substantive commitments aren't made against a background of finitude. 
D)  None of the above B

Question 4

Why does Beglin think that we'd likely become bored if we lived forever? Explain his reasoning. Next, explain the lingering hope that Beglin considers in section 7. How is this hope meant to address his worry? Why doesn't he think that this hope is ultimately reassuring? Do you find Beglin's position convincing? Explain.

Accepted Answer

Beglin thinks that we'd likely become bo

Question 5

What leads Beglin to doubt the Necessary Boredom Thesis?

Accepted Answer

A)  He doubts that the world has a limited amount of value in it. 
B)  He doubts that what makes life meaningful for us would necessarily be undermined by immortal existence 
C)  He doubts EM's boredom was the consequence of something contingent 
D)  He doubts that there is something about how we mortals currently relate to the world that is necessary for living a meaningful life. 
E)  None of the above 
A)  He doubts that the world has a limited amount of value in it. 
B)  He doubts that what makes life meaningful for us would necessarily be undermined by immortal existence 
C)  He doubts EM's boredom was the consequence of something contingent 
D)  He doubts that there is something about how we mortals currently relate to the world that is necessary for living a meaningful life. 
E)  None of the above

Question 6

According to the Value-Filled World Argument

Accepted Answer

A)  It seems possible for someone to live a meaningful immortal life, given that the world necessarily has value in it. 
B)  It seems possible for someone to live a meaningful immortal life, given that everyone can necessarily engage with value. 
C)  It seems possible for someone to live a meaningful immortal life, given the seemingly endless amount of value there is in the world. 
D)  None of the above 
A)  It seems possible for someone to live a meaningful immortal life, given that the world necessarily has value in it. 
B)  It seems possible for someone to live a meaningful immortal life, given that everyone can necessarily engage with value. 
C)  It seems possible for someone to live a meaningful immortal life, given the seemingly endless amount of value there is in the world. 
D)  None of the above

Question 7

What is Williams' Necessary Boredom Thesis, and how does the Value-Filled World Argument aim to undermine it? Explain why the Value-Filled World Argument doesn't work, according to Beglin. Nevertheless, Beglin doubts the Necessary Boredom Thesis. Explain his doubts. Do you find them compelling? Why or why not?

Accepted Answer

Williams' Necessary Boredom Thesis argue

Exam 20: Immortality, Boredom, and Standing for Something

According to Beglin, why does immortal life threaten us with boredom?

According to Bernard Williams, immortality would...

What is the lingering hope that Beglin identifies with respect to his argument that immortality would dilute the significance of our commitments?

What leads Beglin to doubt the Necessary Boredom Thesis?

According to the Value-Filled World Argument

Defining Death

Defining Death in a Technological World

We Die When Entropy Overwhelms Homeostasis

What It Is to Die

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

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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