Death is bad for those who die because death deprives them of good things they would otherwise have. That's a classic Nagel's deprivation account, but I feel like it's imprecise? Death deprives us of many opportunities: work, relationships, family. But as we get older and weaker, those opportunities become fewer and fewer. We feel more sorry for the dead young girl than for the old woman. The result is that the badness of death diminishes rapidly with age. But aging isn't just the cause of diminishing ability; it's also the main cause of death itself. The result is a vicious circle: that which reduces our capacities kills us and at the same time justifies death. We need to show that death itself is bad at any age.
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Death is bad for those who die because death deprives them of good things they would otherwise have. That's a classic Nagel's deprivation account, but I feel like it's imprecise? Death deprives us of many opportunities: work, relationships, family. But as we get older and weaker, those opportunities become fewer and fewer. We feel more sorry for the dead young girl than for the old woman. The result is that the badness of death diminishes rapidly with age. But aging isn't just the cause of diminishing ability; it's also the main cause of death itself. The result is a vicious circle: that which reduces our capacities kills us and at the same time justifies death. We need to show that death itself is bad at any age.
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