Life, Death, and Meaning

Edited by David Benatar - Contributions by Margaret A. Boden; Fred Feldman; John Martin Fischer; Richard Hare; David Hume; W.D Joske; Immanuel Kant; Frederick Kaufman; James Lenman; John Leslie; Steven Luper; Thomas Nagel; Robert Nozick; Christine Overall

Do our lives have meaning? Should we create more people? Is death bad? Should we commit suicide? Would it be better to be immortal? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic? Since Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions first appeared, David Benatar's distinctive anthology designed to introduce students to the key existential questions of philosophy has won a devoted following among users in a variety of upper-level and even introductory courses. While many philosophers in the "continental tradition"-those known as "existentialists"-have engaged these issues at length and often with great popular appeal, English-speaking philosophers have had relatively little to say on these important questions. Yet, the methodology they bring to philosophical questions can, and occasionally has, been applied usefully to "existential" questions. This volume draws together a representative sample of primarily English-speaking philosophers' reflections on life's big questions, divided into six sections, covering (1) the meaning of life, (2) creating people, (3) death, (4) suicide, (5) immortality, and (6) optimism and pessimism. These key readings are supplemented with helpful introductions, study questions, and suggestions for further reading, making the material accessible and interesting for students. In short, the book provides a singular introduction to the way that philosophy has dealt with the big questions of life that we are all tempted to ask.

PREFACEINTRODUCTIONChapter 1THE MEANING OF LIFERichard Taylor, The Meaning of LifeThomas Nagel, The AbsurdRichard Hare, 'Nothing Matters'W.D. Joske, Philosophy and the Meaning of LifeRobert Nozick, Philosophy and the Meaning of LifeDavid Schmidtz, The Meanings of LifeSusan Wolf, The Meanings of LivesChapter 2CREATING PEOPLEDerek Parfit, Whether Causing Someone to Exist Can Benefit This PersonJohn Leslie, Why Not Let Life Become Extinct?James Lenman, On Becoming ExtinctDavid Benatar, Why it is Better Never to Come into ExistenceChapter 3DEATHStephen E. Rosenbaum, How to be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of EpicurusGeorge Pitcher, The Misfortunes of the DeadSteven Luper, AnnihilationFred Feldman, Some Puzzles About the Evil of DeathFrederick Kaufman, Pre-Vital and Post-Mortem Non-ExistenceDavid B. Suits, Why Death is not Bad for the One who DiedChapter 4IMMORTALITYJames Lenman, Immortality: A letterBernard Williams, The Makropulos case: reflections on the tedium of immortalityJohn Martin Fischer, Why Immortality is Not So BadChristine Overall, From here to eternity: Is it good to live forever?Chapter 5SUICIDEDavid Hume, Of SuicideImmanuel Kant, Suicide and DutyDavid Benatar, Suicide: A Qualified DefenceChapter 6OPTIMISM AND PESSIMISMMargaret A. Boden, OptimismSamantha Vice, Optimism and MeaningBruce N. Waller, The sad truth: optimism, pessimism, and pragmatismArthur Schopenhauer, On the Suffering of the World