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    The problem of what is in the state of being dead cannot ... — Carmelics
    Home/Afterlife & Death
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The problem of what is in the state of being dead cannot be solved by saying that upon dying an organism leaves a corpse and it is the corpse that is in the state of being dead.

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

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.A corpse is a distinct biological entity from the organism that died, not a continuation of it.
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    • 2.Predicating 'dead' of a corpse commits a category error: corpses are not the kind of thing that can be alive or dead.
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    • 3.If corpses cannot be alive, they cannot meaningfully be in the state of being dead, leaving the original problem unsolved.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Death is a relational state that must be predicated of the same entity that previously possessed life, as Aristotle's hylomorphism requires continuity of form for predication.
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    • 2.A corpse lacks the organizational form (psyche) that constituted the organism, making it numerically distinct from the deceased organism.
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    • 3.Attributing the state of being dead to the corpse rather than the organism merely displaces, rather than resolves, the metaphysical question of what subject bears the death-predicate.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Some organisms do not leave corpses.
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    • 2.What corpses are left eventually disintegrate.
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    • 3.Whether an organism leaves a corpse or not, and whether its corpse exists or not, if that organism dies at time t and does not regain life then it is dead after t.
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    Afterlife & Death

    Related

    A corpse is a distinct biological entity from the organism that died, not a cont...A corpse lacks the organizational form (psyche) that constituted the organism, m...Attributing the state of being dead to the corpse rather than the organism merel...Death is a relational state that must be predicated of the same entity that prev...
    +5 moreShow less
    If corpses cannot be alive, they cannot meaningfully be in the state of being de...Predicating 'dead' of a corpse commits a category error: corpses are not the kin...Some organisms do not leave corpses.What corpses are left eventually disintegrate.Whether an organism leaves a corpse or not, and whether its corpse exists or not...

    Similar

    Whether an organism leaves a corpse or not, and whether its corpse exi...88%Theorists who deny that an organism may continue its existence as a co...86%If an object that is an organism may continue its existence as a corps...82%If corpses were never alive, then they never died, so being dead (as a...82%

    Source

    AI-extracted2/3 agreementValid
    SEP: death
    Author's argument against the corpse solution
    View source passageHide passage
    Why not solve the problem by saying that upon dying an organism leaves a corpse, and it is the corpse that is in the state of being dead? There are several problems with this suggestion. Some organisms do not leave corpses. What corpses are left eventually disintegrate. Whether an organism leaves a corpse or not, and whether its corpse exists or not, if that organism dies at time t and does not regain life then it is dead after t.
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The three premises are explicitly stated in the source passage and collectively provide reasons why the corpse-based solution fails—since not all organisms leave corpses, corpses eventually cease to exist, yet organisms that die remain dead regardless, the corpse cannot be what bears the state of being dead.

    Confidence: High confidence. The passage explicitly presents three objections against the corpse proposal.

    Details

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