Musings on mortality

Abstract

"Death is a pervasive fact of human existence that both unites and divides us. The rational capacity that distinguishes human beings from other animals allows us to know—in a way more instinctively regulated creatures apparently do not, that we are going to die—and thus to take measure to forestall the inevitable. Many more human beings now live, on the average, much longer, than they did in the past—and yet, we still know, even better, if possible, that we are all going to die eventually, later if not sooner. The question thus arises, how do we live in the face of that fact—and, how should we?"(...)