Fear of Death

[The Sum of Awe]

There's a lot of philosophical sayings that really make death itself less a threat. But I don't think it helps. From what it seems, fear of death is less about the fear of not being around, but more of the fear of how death effects things: Losing the future. The upsetting of loved ones. The fear of actually feeling death. And many other things.

What is your philosophical approach to those fears?

 

[Thief]

For the most part....
I suspect it comes from the chemistry built into our nervous system.
Part of that reflex intended to keep the body in one piece.

But as creatures that perceive a possible tomorrow....we can worry.
We see death happen to all else....and know it comes quickly for us.
We worry.

Some say religion is no more than a crutch of comfort.
Belief in the next life no more than a fantasy to placate our fears.

I can't agree.
Man is a creature of spirit.
It makes no sense to me that we all fail to survive the last breath.
Maybe...most of us do.

 

[Drolefille]

There's also the fear of .... that's gonna hurt.


I don't have much of a philosophical fear of death - I think regardless of any sort of afterlife, people live on in the things they do in life. Every person one touches is affected, and so on... so really your legacy never dies. But in a moment, I"ll probably be really afraid of it, because it'll probably hurt. Also I haven't read all the books yet, or seen all the things.

 

[Sunstone]

Fear of death seems over-rated to me. I suppose there are some people who are scared to death of death, but I don't think they're likely to be as numerous as people sometimes suggest.

However, I did read once that people who believed in an afterlife were more likely to be scared of death than people who didn't believe in an afterlife, according to at least one study. So maybe I'm underestimating how many people really are scared of death -- because a whole lot of people believe in an afterlife.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Fear of death seems over-rated to me. I suppose there are some people who are scared to death of death, but I don't think they're likely to be as numerous as people sometimes suggest.

However, I did read once that people who believed in an afterlife were more likely to be scared of death than people who didn't believe in an afterlife, according to at least one study. So maybe I'm underestimating how many people really are scared of death -- because a whole lot of people believe in an afterlife.

I wonder why that would be. Ah well, the soul only gets as far as you let it.

 

[Sunstone]

I wonder why that would be.

I don't know...maybe they think the afterlife they believe in will be unpleasant.

I think the best approach to death is to view it as a psychological and emotional letting go. It's a matter of no longer identifying your self with anything -- with any of your possessions, your friends, your work, etc. And, there's a case to be made that you should be doing that on a frequent basis anyway, even while you are physically alive and in good health. Letting go of things prepares us for what comes next.

 

[McBell]

I wonder why that would be.

Fear of:

the unknown
change
​

 

[Penumbra]

There's a lot of philosophical sayings that really make death itself less a threat. But I don't think it helps. From what it seems, fear of death is less about the fear of not being around, but more of the fear of how death effects things: Losing the future. The upsetting of loved ones. The fear of actually feeling death. And many other things.

What is your philosophical approach to those fears?

I think fear of death is mostly the result of strong programming by evolution. Some people feel it more than others. I've never felt it much, so it's a bit hard for me to relate to how so many people seem to fear it so much.

Then again, in polls, the fear of public speaking tends to be greater than the fear of death, so...

I don't really feel like I need much of a philosophy for it. If death is final, then one can't even experience death, because death means there is no experiencer. I naturally would have great fear of a painful death; the ugly process of dying. It can't be helped much, though. And for loved ones; I can't do much about that either if I'm dead.

I've always been a fan of the popular subset of the Serenity Prayer, albeit with the first word removed.

[God] Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

It's a good mindfulness tool to remind oneself of that, imo.

 

[Badran]

Personally i think my fear of death revolves around two things, the idea of it happening before i do some things in life, and a general discomfort with the idea of losing control, which i kind of view death as a form of (the most severe form, probably). Specifically, the loss of control is not perceived as something that happens after death, but in the sense that if i'm dying and i'm aware of the fact that i'm dying, i would be pretty helpless. Something along those lines, but more detailed than that.

Anyway, sometimes i feel comfortable with the idea of dying when i think of it without some of the above extensions (or others), but some other times when i imagine specifics such as dying and being aware of the fact, i experience a type of fear that rarely comes from anything else. Whether it's me or somebody i care about, death can come at any time, in anyway, and eventually it's gonna happen and nothing can be done about it, whether someone was ready for it or not, and on top of all that it can come in very unpleasant ways.

Ideally, i think something like that just needs to be accepted, because there's nothing else to be done. It's the most positive outcome i can hope for (to accept it), and so basically the way to address it from my view is to either make sure i'm on my way to doing the things i want to do in life, trying to address my fear of loss of control, and generally just not worrying about it (or not thinking about it often), particularly when it comes to others because there's little to be done, or, basically make sure i don't allow myself to get attached to life or anything in it beyond certain points, which would be points vastly minimal compared to my current investment in life and in others, so that i won't worry about losing any of it.

Where i stand seems to be kind of in the middle between those two options. In my mind, i want to do things like i described in the first option, and somehow do in some regards, yet my actions still seem somehow leaning towards the second. I'm trying to stop that from being the case.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Some days I would rather not have death come about, other days, I really wouldnt have an issue if it did.

Death will come anyways, fearful or not, so fear actually is where the contention lies.

The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself. -FDR-

:0)

 

[Amechania]

I'm acrtally more afraid of death because of the possibility of an afterlife.

 

[Penumbra]

I'm acrtally more afraid of death because of the possibility of an afterlife.

Why is that?

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

I experience fear of the pain of dying, not really death itself. I used to be afraid of it, because I used to believe in hell and torment and ever-lasting suffering if I wasn't perfect and sorry at the moment of my death. But now that my ideas of death have changed the only thing left is the unpleasant sensory aspects of dying.

:camp:

 

[Amechania]

Why is that?

I know that my life will end, and I'm comfortable with that. If nothing comes after it really doesn't matter because I wouldn't know it anyway. The idea that I might continue on as a disembodied stranger in a strange land gives me pause. I'm not terrified of the prospect, just that its more to be feared than is non-existence.

 

[FearGod]

There's a lot of philosophical sayings that really make death itself less a threat. But I don't think it helps. From what it seems, fear of death is less about the fear of not being around, but more of the fear of how death effects things: Losing the future. The upsetting of loved ones. The fear of actually feeling death. And many other things.

What is your philosophical approach to those fears?

Missing world cup 2014.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I think fear of death is mostly the result of strong programming by evolution. Some people feel it more than others. I've never felt it much, so it's a bit hard for me to relate to how so many people seem to fear it so much.

Then again, in polls, the fear of public speaking tends to be greater than the fear of death, so...

I don't really feel like I need much of a philosophy for it. If death is final, then one can't even experience death, because death means there is no experiencer. I naturally would have great fear of a painful death; the ugly process of dying. It can't be helped much, though. And for loved ones; I can't do much about that either if I'm dead.

I've always been a fan of the popular subset of the Serenity Prayer, albeit with the first word removed.


It's a good mindfulness tool to remind oneself of that, imo.

Yes, I was aware of this. Which is why I was asking for philosophical ways around the fears related to death, rather than fear of death in and of itself.

 

[Thief]

I know that my life will end, and I'm comfortable with that. If nothing comes after it really doesn't matter because I wouldn't know it anyway. The idea that I might continue on as a disembodied stranger in a strange land gives me pause. I'm not terrified of the prospect, just that its more to be feared than is non-existence.

I would agree.
We enter this world by flesh and into the arms of someone that might care.

We stand from the dust ...naked.
We will not know the language, the territory or the scheme of things.
Whatever stands over us during that last hour of living....will have the advantage.

 

[dannerz]

I'm not scared of death at all. I spent a long time thinking about it.

 

[Farrukh]

death will take me to paradise if i spent my life in good way, i will love death in that case. but if i keep doing wrong, and death comes to me, I will be afraid of it.

 

[chinu]

What is your philosophical approach to those fears?

What if somebody returns home and see that his house is totally burned along with his family members ? What if when he goes to the bank and see that his bank account is hacked by somebody and he loosed all his money ? What if when next day he returns to the work and knows that he is fired from the job. What if he finds that all of his friends are also ignoring him.

So many troubles at a time.
That's what death is, or even more than that one could not imagine.