As Socrates says to the judges which condemned him,
"Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good; for one of two things--either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another. Now if you suppose that there is no consciousness, but a sleep like the sleep of him who is undisturbed even by dreams, death will be an unspeakable gain. For if a person were to select the night in which his sleep was undisturbed even by dreams, and were to compare with this the other days and nights of his life, and then were to tell us how many days and nights he had passed in the course of his life better and more pleasantly than this one, I think that any man, I will not say a private man, but even the great king will not find many such days or nights, when compared with the others. Now if death be of such a nature, I say that to die is gain; for eternity is then only a single night. But if death is the journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead abide, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this?"
"...Wherefore, O judges, be of good cheer about death, and know of a certainty, that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death."
"The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways--I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows. "
I highlighted some lines for main points. Crazy that these were his last words, I especially enjoy the part about no evil can happen to a good man.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I really enjoyed this piece. The part about no good man should fear death is strangly how I sometimes feel about the subject. I say "sometimes" since my views about death and the after life very in different periods in my life. As I have said before as a "Non-Believer" in the sense of the Christian God it is sometimes a fearful thought to imagine an eternity in hell. As I pass through my life I can say that I do not fear death at this moment, since in my opinion passing good onto others, and being good to ones self will impress whatever great creator maybe out there. My fear is that I may change my view on this subject as i getting closer to the end of my life as some people often do.
That is what I am worried about as well, changing my opinion or, "choosing" a path near the end of life.
I definitely think good deeds, morals, and ethics lead to a, "good life." Obviously this, "good life" cannot be acheived without a lifetime of work.
Whats crazy is that if eternity is either of the 2 settings Socrates described, he is right, it may not be such a bad thing.......
Yes Poor Richard, but it is hard for me to imagine or "believe" that after ones brain shuts down and death occurs that I will be in some "Dream State" Now I know that there are certain people who believe that after your dead your brain still as activity for awhile and dreaming may occur after your death. But like all things this dream must end aswell as life.
"Nay,I am in great doubt whether any man could be found, who would earn a life of the most perfect satisfaction, at the price of ending it in the torments. But as pain is stronger in its operation than pleasure, so death is in general a much more affecting idea than pain; because there are very few pains, however exquisite, which are not preferred to death: nay, what generally makes pain itself, if I may say so, more painful, is, that it is considered as an emissary of this king of terrors. When danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight, and are simply terrible; BUT at certain distances, and with certain modifications, they may be, and they are, delightful, as we every day experience."
- Edmund Burke
Do you enjoy fear? The sublime which Burke is referring to is what he defines as the "most powerful emotion known to man." And if this is true then wouldnt the most sublime thought be an eternity in hell? Are we really worried about what happens when we die, or "is it in our nature to delight in that which is terrible?" Do we just enjoy the idea that God can hold the ulimate terror at a distance that makes the idea of hell exciting and powerful, maybe even enjoyable?
Jeanneret, great Burke quote. I think the thought of hell and heaven as well, do hold a fear over us and at a distance (especially since we are young) and we see these "eternities" as exciting. Will our views change as that distance shortens? As you mentioned from Burke, "When danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight."
And if the idea of hell is exciting and possibly enjoyable from a distance, does that make it eerily the same or similar to heaven, its opposite? When we think of love and hate (opposites) they are similar strong emotions which we enjoy.
Post a Comment