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    Epicurus's symmetry argument assumes desires are purely q... — Carmelics
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    Supports→The argument that our attitude about future life should match our attitude about past life does not straightforwardly apply to us.

    Epicurus's symmetry argument assumes desires are purely quantitative and interchangeable across time, but Nagel argues desires have irreducibly forward-looking intentional structure.

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    Key Terms

    Epicurus(the originator of Epicurean atomism)
    An ancient Greek philosopher (341-270 BCE) who argued that the universe is made of atoms moving through empty space, and that this physical process alone could explain everything we observe without needing a god or designer.
    Interchangeable(as describing the relationship between ratio and magnitude language)
    Able to be used in place of each other without changing the meaning or outcome.
    Nagel(as a key philosopher cited in this theory)
    Thomas Nagel is a famous American philosopher known for thinking deeply about consciousness, death, and what makes life meaningful.
    Quantitative(in the critique of reductive analysis)
    Based on measurable amounts or numbers (like counting hours) rather than qualities or characteristics.
    Symmetry argument

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    (as used in arguments about the harm of death)
    An argument that says if two situations are mirror images of each other in relevant ways, they should be treated the same way—in this case, the time before you were born and the time after you die should be viewed identically.
    intentional structure(Analytic philosophy's investigation of thought via language)
    The structure of human thought as directed toward or about objects and states of affairs
    irreducibly forward-looking intentional structure(describing Nagel's alternative theory of how desires actually work)
    The idea that desires are fundamentally about aiming toward the future and are defined by what they're directed at or aimed toward—and this can't be broken down into simpler purely quantitative measures.

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    Afterlife & Death1 linked

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    The argument that our attitude about future life should match our attitude about...

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