Among the greatest things that move man, psychologists assert that it is the fear of their mortality.[1] Is it normal to fear death? It is believed that being normal means that anyone can have emotions, meaning that emotions such as fear indicate that a human being is normal.[2]For example, when the weather men predict that a hurricane in an area where we live, then it is rational that we fear the damage that it will cause. This fear is accelerated by the drastic decline of the environment which has been caused climate change. In the contrary, fear of some event occurring is irrational if there is no evidence that the event is capable of threatening the well-being of the person. Developing fears that the earth will be hit by a very large steroid is at present irrational since there lacks evidence that the asteroid will strike is eminent.
Centuries ago Epicurus, a Greek philosopher, came up with an argument against the fear of death, which has now become more plausible. He argued that death concerns no one, because as long as a person exists, there is no death and that when death comes, it means that we do not exist any longer.[3] Epicurus believed that everything is made up of material entities and there are no souls that survive death. [4] This means that if life ends at death, then that person should not fear because he/she will not be there to experience pain or pleasure. Of course, there are things that a dying individual is worth of fearing such as disability, disease and also the distress left with the people who cared most about that individual. But from if we view it from a philosophical perspective, after death there is no life and death is nothing to fear about.[5]
What actually happens when a person dies? And should anyone fear dying? Plato’s Socrates states that everyone knows something definite about dying and death.[6] Most people understand death as a separation of soul from the body. According to Pieper, the modern man still has reservations that soul is something independent and inseparable. [7] Christian theologies also refer to death as separation of the soul from the body. With the argument that death is separation, we all understand that separation means the abolition of some connection. [8] What then is this separation that happens that makes people become so much afraid? Acquaintances meet on the street by chance, converse briefly and then separate. Red Cross daily testify that child and mother are separated in a war zone. An arm or leg may separate from the body in an accident. The concept of separation is so clear, it happens almost every other minute. In each cases of separation, the only difference comes about when we view the different situations. Separation is therefore nothing to cause so much worry when dying occurs. The meaning of death depends on how we conceive man and his physical being. [9]
According to Plato, there is something in a living man that tends to use his body as a tool or an apparatus. He argues that this tool is the soul that gets separated at death.[10] This can be seen as the reason why most people say that: “The soul is the man.” [11]This means that the things that separate at death are those that have always been twain from the beginning. It thus means that people have nothing to be afraid of in death. When death takes place, we can take it simply as an artisan who has laid down or dropped his tool or a sailor who just decides to step out of the boat, that he no longer requires after landing.
If we consider body and soul as two things which have always been separate from origin, and we argue like Plato did, that soul alone is the real person, then whatever takes place at death should not affect us in any manner.[12] According to Schopenhauer, [13] when a man dies, he remains uninvolved. According to the New Testament, death alone does not mean it’s the end of man, the book indicates that the soul, which many refer to as the man, remains. People need not fear death, if anyone fears that death will take an individual away completely out of existence, then then individual should view it in the Christian theological way.13and this way fear nothing.
In his book, the denial of death, Becker stated that the major problem that the psychologists found after the evolution of man, as Darwin discovered, is the fear of death. [14]Shaler also wrote that one thing that must be admired and constantly adored is the courage to face death. [15]Those people who bravely face their own extinction become heroes and are honoured. Fear of dying makes us unable to function normally. We should repress it to be able to live comfortably. When we accomplish repressing that fear, it doesn’t mean that its gone completely, but we are able to accomplish more in its supressed state.
According to Zilboorg, [16]fears is an expression of the instinct of preservation, and it acts as a constant drive to maintenance of life and mastering of dangers that threaten life. This means that fear of dying is always present in all that we do, and in our normal functioning if we don’t care about it. A lot of energy would not be used constantly in the preservation of life.
Becker, like Platos, argues that the difference between the human beings and all the other animals is something that is found inside him, that which characterises him. For years, the philosophers referred to it as “essence”. A lot was done to try and realize what it was but it was never found. As Erich Fromm 17 discussed it, he said that there was no essence of finding it because of the paradoxical nature of man.Lack of that substance which cause human beings to die after living for some time, keeps most people afraid of what actually happens after death.
Bibliography
Becker, Ernest,The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press 1973; 587-595
Pieper J. What does “Seperation of Body and Soul” Mean? Death and Immortality Translated by Richard and Clara Winston, 2000, South Bend, Indiana: 23-37
Florian, Victor; Mikulincer, Mario.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 73(2), Aug 1997, 369-380
Calvin C. M, John B. W. The Universal Fear of Death And The Cultural Response. Sage publications by CC Moore 2003; 3-12
Geoffrey Scarre. European Journal of Philosophy 5 (Dec 2002); 1-11
[1]Calvin C. M, John B. W. 2003. The Universal Fear of Death And The Cultural Response. Sage publications by CC Moore; 3
[2]Ibid.,5.
[3]Florian, Victor; Mikulincer, Mario.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 73(2), Aug 1997, 371
[4]Ibid.,372.
[5]Ibid.,373.
[6]Pieper J. What does “Seperation of Body and Soul” Mean? Death and Immortality Translated by Richard and Clara Winston, 2000, South Bend, Indiana: 23
[7]Ibid.,23.
[8]Ibid.,24.
[9]Ibid.,24.
[10]Ibid.,25.
[11]Ibid.,25.
[12]Ibid.,26.
[13]Calvin C. M, John B. W. The Universal Fear of Death And The Cultural Response. Sage publications by CC Moore 2003; 7
[14]Becker, Ernest,The Denial of Death. New York: Free Press 1973; 587
[15]Ibid.,587.
[16]Ibid.,589.
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