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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that 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.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Death deprives us of *future* goods we would have experienced; pre-natal non-existence deprives us of nothing we ever had access to.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Symmetry arguments fail when the relata differ fundamentally: one involves severing existing life, the other involves never beginning it.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Our rational fear of death may be justified by the loss of *potential* experiences, regardless of whether we can experience the deprivation itself.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.We cannot experience harm during non-existence, as harm requires a subject capable of experiencing states of deprivation or suffering.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.There is no metaphysically relevant asymmetry between temporal directions; both past and future non-existence are equally inaccessible to us.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If pre-natal non-existence was not bad for us, rational consistency demands we apply identical reasoning to post-mortem non-existence.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

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