The Epicurean tradition holds that the pre-natal period of non-existence caused us no harm, and Lucretius's symmetry argument demands we treat ante-mortem and post-mortem non-existence identically.

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Ante-mortem(as used in philosophy of death): Latin phrase meaning 'before death'; used to describe something that happens while someone is still alive but in preparation for dying.
Epicurean tradition(as used in philosophy of death and harm): A school of thought founded by the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus that focuses on understanding what makes life good, often (incorrectly) associated with excessive pleasure-seeking, but actually emphasizing simple living and freedom from fear.
Lucretius(as a key philosopher in the Epicurean tradition): A Roman philosopher and poet (lived around 99-55 BCE) who wrote about Epicurean ideas and argued that we shouldn't fear death because non-existence before birth didn't harm us.
Post-mortem(as used to describe the time after someone's death): The Latin phrase meaning 'after death'; refers to the period after someone has died.
Pre-natal period(as used in the statement about non-existence): The time before you were born, when you did not exist.
Symmetry argument(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.
non-existence(what the argument wrongly concludes): Something not being real or not actually existing.

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