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    Bernard Williams argued in 'The Makability of the Self' t... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Immortality is necessary to evade the futility of human achievement

    Bernard Williams argued in 'The Makability of the Self' that immortality would drain life of categorical desires, producing tedium rather than meaningful engagement, making immortality no solution to futility.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Categorical desires (goals we value intrinsically) depend on scarcity and finitude to maintain significance and motivational force.
      ?

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    • 2.Infinite time would eventually exhaust meaningful projects, relationships, and experiences, collapsing them into repetition and habituation.
      ?

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    • 3.Solving the problem of futility requires meaningful engagement, which requires genuine risk of failure—immortality eliminates this risk entirely.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Categorical desires need not depend on mortality; love, creativity, and discovery can remain intrinsically valuable regardless of timespan.
      ?

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    • 2.Infinite time allows new categories of desires and experiences we cannot currently imagine, preventing the exhaustion Williams predicts.
      ?

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    • 3.Tedium from immortality is a psychological claim about human adaptation, not a logical necessity; our values and interests could evolve indefinitely.
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    Key Terms

    Bernard Williams(as a defender of Humean philosophy)
    A late 20th-century British philosopher who wrote influential works on ethics, questioning whether morality can be truly objective and exploring the role of personal projects and desires in a good life.
    Categorical desires(Williams's key concept about what makes life worth living)
    Desires that give your life direction and meaning—things you care about for their own sake, not just as a way to pass time (like wanting to learn, create, or help others).
    Futility(the deeper existential problem immortality supposedly cannot solve)
    The feeling that nothing you do really matters or makes a difference in the long run.
    Immortality(as what the ontological argument is trying to prove in this case)
    The idea that something lasts forever and never dies or ceases to exist.
    Tedium(what Williams claims would result from losing categorical desires)
    Boredom and weariness that comes from doing repetitive, unstimulating things without relief.

    Connections

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    Afterlife & Death1 linked

    Related

    Categorical desires (goals we value intrinsically) depend on scarcity and finitu...Categorical desires need not depend on mortality; love, creativity, and discover...Immortality is necessary to evade the futility of human achievementInfinite time allows new categories of desires and experiences we cannot current...
    +3 moreShow less
    Infinite time would eventually exhaust meaningful projects, relationships, and e...Solving the problem of futility requires meaningful engagement, which requires g...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    Tedium from immortality is a psychological claim about human adaptation, not a l...