Deck 11: Death Is Bad for Us When Were Dead

Question 1

Which of the following best represents Epicurus' conclusion in his 'Letter to Menoeceus'?

A) The process of dying is not bad for the dying person.
B) Death is not a bad thing for the person who dies.
C) One person's death cannot be bad for others.
D) All of the above

Answer 1

Death is not a bad thing for the person who dies.

Question 2

According to Feit, which of the following assumptions does Epicurus make?

A) The only things that are intrinsically bad for us are sensations of pain or suffering.
B) When a person dies, he or she simply ceases to exist.
C) Both (a) and (b) above.
D) None of the above.

Answer 2

Both (a) and (b) above.

Question 3

Which of the following theoretical perspectives claims that an event is (extrinsically) bad for a person if and only if that person's life would have had more well-being, on balance, if the event had not taken place?

A) Hedonism
B) The timing argument
C) Subsequentism
D) The deprivation account

Answer 3

The deprivation account

Question 4

With respect to the Timing Argument, to which of the following premises does Feit focus his main objection?

A) Premise 1: Nothing can be bad for a person before it happens.
B) Premise 2: Nothing can be bad for a person when that person does not exist.
C) Premise 3: From the time of a person's death onwards, that person no longer exists.
D) Premise 4: Anything that is bad for a person must be bad for that person at some time or other.

Question 5

According to Feit, why should a hedonist say that the level of well-being that a dead person has is zero?

A) The person is experiencing no pleasure and no pain.
B) The person has no desires or preferences that are going unsatisfied.
C) A dead person is comparable to an imaginary or merely possible being like a unicorn
D) None of the above

Question 6

Feit suggests that if he became convinced that subsequentism is false, then he would accept which of the following?

A) Atemporalism
B) The desire satisfaction view
C) Priorism
D) Epicureanism

Question 7

What does it mean to say that something intrinsically bad for a person? What does it mean to say that something is extrinsically bad for a person? How did Epicurus use hedonism, along with his view about what happens to a person at the time of death, to argue that death is not bad in any way for the one who dies? What is the deprivation account? How do philosophers who accept the deprivation account use it to object to Epicurus' reasoning?

Question 8

What is the timing argument? (Try to reconstruct the premises and the conclusion as carefully as you can.) For each premise of the argument, how might Epicurus, or someone who agrees with him, give a reason to think it is true? What is subsequentism? Why does Feit argue that we should accept it? How does Feit use this reasoning to object to the timing argument? (Be specific about which premise Feit denies and why.) Do you agree with Feit's evaluation of the timing argument? Why or why not?