Skip to content
Carmelics
TopicsThinkersChangesContributorsLoading account…

    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

    Navigate

    • Topics
    • Search
    • Recent Changes
    • Contribute
    • How It Works
    • Glossary
    • Thinkers
    • Contributors
    • About
    • Statistics
    • Terms
    • Privacy

    Database

    Statements
    —
    Perspectives
    —
    Topics
    —

    Press ? for keyboard shortcuts

    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    It is not irrational to prefer not to be at the end of ou... — Carmelics
    Home/Afterlife & Death
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    It is not irrational to prefer not to be at the end of our lives, unable to shape them further, and limited to reminiscing about days gone by.

    Afterlife & Death
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.We do not want our lives to be all over with.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.We have forward-looking pursuits that require future life to be realized.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Contemplative traditions from Aristotle to Buddhism hold that retrospective wisdom and equanimity constitute a distinct and valuable form of human flourishing.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If late-life reflection constitutes a genuine mode of flourishing, then preferring to avoid it may reflect a culturally contingent bias toward productivity rather than rational assessment.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Bernard Williams's argument that categorical desires ground the badness of death implies that transformed late-life desires—including desires to reminisce—are no less authentically one's own.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If reminiscence and passive reflection can constitute genuine categorical desires, then the supporting argument's privileging of forward-looking pursuits begs the question against a different but equally coherent life structure.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Sign in or register to share your perspective on this statement.

    Next step

    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.

    Topics

    Afterlife & Death

    Related

    Bernard Williams's argument that categorical desires ground the badness of death...Contemplative traditions from Aristotle to Buddhism hold that retrospective wisd...If late-life reflection constitutes a genuine mode of flourishing, then preferri...If reminiscence and passive reflection can constitute genuine categorical desire...
    +2 moreShow less
    We do not want our lives to be all over with.We have forward-looking pursuits that require future life to be realized.

    Similar

    It is not irrational to prefer that our lives be extended into the fut...88%It is not irrational to want future life more than past life.86%It is irrational to object to death (assuming it ends our existence).81%It is rational to deplore death more than we deplore our not having al...80%

    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: death
    Main passage, citing Kamm
    View source passageHide passage
    Whether or not we have the extensive bias described by Parfit, it is true that the accumulation of life and pleasure, and the passive contemplation thereof, are not our only interests. We also have active, forward–looking goals and concerns. Engaging in such pursuits has its own value; for many of us, these pursuits, and not passive interests, are central to our ‘identities’, our fundamental values and commitments. However, we cannot make and pursue plans for our past. We must project our plans (our self–realization) into the future, which explains our forward bias. (We could have been devisin...
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The passage explicitly states both premises and the conclusion, with the forward-looking pursuits premise providing rational grounding for why preferring not to be at life's end is not irrational, and Kamm's point about not wanting life to be "all over with" reinforcing this.

    Confidence: High confidence. Explicitly stated as a further implication of the forward-bias argument.

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit