Many people seem able to accept that they came from nothing. Most seem happy with the notion that they express their being during the time that they are alive. But very, very few are willing to accept that their death will return them to nothingness. Why is that?
This is an interesting question in that nothing is a modesty in a healthy individual and depending on cyclic theory of course they might be reintroduced to modesty or (nothingness). Death and rebirth is a good concept and study through conception and copulation. Asians deal with karma while most of us will learn from past mistakes and try and change 'the next time' in a manner of speaking. Nothingness though lets face it falls into somethingness which with all due respect in natural law signifies philosophy of Chi and Chen and yin and yang where in English it could mean simply binary code of positive and negative.
Michael S
Do you think that it is because people feel that they would leave a legacy? I'm not referring to physical aspects - for example - wealth, but in the impact they have had, during their lives. Some are remembered for the legacy they have left - for example - to science, while others - for a shorter amount of time - may be remembered by their family and friends, to a grater or lesser extent. There are those no longer with us who I sometimes wonder how they would have dealt with a predicament, as if I was still able to ask them for advice.
It will be great to read the thoughts of others about this.
Thank you Mary for that. I understand your point about our own nothingness perhaps not being total for others, at least not for a while after our physical demise. But, I'm not sure that we consider that ourselves when assessing the end?
NOCK
I'm not sure on that; although it's not my subject, but the psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson springs to mind. Erikson, on discussing the last stage of human life (ego integrity - approximately age 65 and ends at death), believed that when the individual assesses what s/he has achieved, s/he feels either completeness - "integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life" - or depression and hopelessness if not (https://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html).
I wonder if the 'completeness', thereby feeling “a sense of coherence and wholeness” would allow the individual, aware of his/her accomplishments to acknowledge his/her legacy (quotations from the reference link above).
I expect those more au fait with this will be critical of my discussion on the subject.
Well, to be honest Mary, it's not really one of my strong suits either! It came to mind when I was thinking back to undergraduate days, many decades ago. Thinking of Jean-Paul Sartres "Being and Nothingness". I was sure I could fit the gist of his 1000 pages on to the back of a matchbox: you're not what you want to be, but may become it. If so, you'll want to become something else, all the way until you die. Might have fit on a box of Swan Vestas, if not England's Glory!
I know some of us to contemplate our death, but for many, many people that seems not to be nothingness.
Nock
La pregunta es muy interesante, algunos autores especialmente desde la filosofía la han abordado como Emmanuel Levinas, quien a su vez tiene presentes a Buber y a Rosenzweig, este es un extracto de un texto mío (por desgracia esta en español) el cual puedo adjuntar por este medio.
"La proximidad de la muerte anunciada en el sufrimiento, deja entrever la pasividad del sujeto, que como menciona Rosenzweig, no se reconoce en la muerte. El carácter particular de este desconocimiento de la muerte es, el ser desconocida, oscura. “Desconocida” no es el límite negativo de alguna forma de conocimiento. Este no-saber es el elemento de amistad u hospitalidad que permite la trascendencia del extraño, la distancia infinita del otro."
La muerte de alguien, no se agota simplemente en el hecho empírico, como ya lo mencionamos hay una especie de detonación emocional que acompaña a al muerte, pero también una desnudez. Ahora bien, el rostro expresa desnudez. Lo que se expresa en la desnudez, un rostro “un rostro de alguien hasta el punto de apelar a mí, de colocarse bajo mi responsabilidad; desde ese momento yo tengo que responder por él”.
Para Levinas, en su libro "Totalidad e infinito" hay una interpretación de la nada en la muerte muy religiosa (tomada del Talmud especialmente) y cuestiona la interpretación tradicional “filosófica y religiosa” de la muerte como “el paso a la nada” o “el paso a otra existencia”. Llega a la conclusión de que Identificar la muerte con la nada es lo que le gustaría al asesino, como Caín por ejemplo quien debe haber tenido esa noción de la muerte. Sin embargo, incluso esta nada se presenta como una “suerte de imposibilidad” o, más precisamente, como una interdicción. El rostro del Otro me prohíbe matar; siempre dice: “no matarás”, incluso si esta posibilidad es el supuesto de la prohibición que la hace imposible.
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