death is unpredictable essay

Death Is Inevitable but Not Inevitably Dreadful

In some circumstances, dying may be less awful than people think..

Posted June 22, 2017

Death is the ultimate negative event. It is dreaded. Death conjures feelings of fear , distress, helplessness, hopelessness, and sadness. We expect the worst.

But fascinating new research suggests that for those who are condemned to die, the experience of facing the end is less negative—and perhaps more positive—than we imagine.

As reported in the June 2017 issue of the journal Psychological Science , Kurt Gray, Ph.D., at the University of North Carolina and his colleagues studied the emotional lives of people about to die from terminal cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or execution. Language offers rich insight to emotions, and the investigators capitalized on this fact. They studied blog posts, poetry, and last words from those who faced imminent death. That language was compared to the language of healthy people who merely imagined their imminent death. Coders were trained to judge emotions conveyed in the narratives, but they did not know if the narratives they judged came from a person who was soon going to die or from a person imagining what it would be like.

In every comparison, death was more positive or less negative than people thought it would be.

That is, for example, non-patients used more negative words in their imaginary blog posts than the terminally ill patients. Patient blog posts also were more positive than the posts from non-patients. Further, positive words in patient blog posts—which could be coded over time—increased as death approached.

These findings are more trustworthy because they were replicated in a vastly different population. That is, the last words of death row inmates also were more positive and less negative than the imagined last words of non-inmates. In addition, the last words of death row inmates facing execution were less negative than poetry produced by inmates who were not facing imminent death.

These results are intriguing. It would be fascinating to learn what processes preceded the enhanced positivity and reduced negativity in persons about to die. That is, what were emotions like in the months and years after patients and prisoners learned of their fate?

Thus far, we have learned that death may be not be as dreadful as we fear.

Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “in this world, nothing is certain but death and taxes.” Perhaps we need dread the former a little less fiercely.

Goranson, A., Ritter, R.S., Waytz, A., Norton, M.I., & Gray, K. (2017). Dying is unexpectedly positive. Psychological Science. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617701186 .

Rebecca Ready, Ph.D., ABPP, is a professor in psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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May 3, 2023

Contemplating Mortality: Powerful Essays on Death and Inspiring Perspectives

The prospect of death may be unsettling, but it also holds a deep fascination for many of us. If you're curious to explore the many facets of mortality, from the scientific to the spiritual, our article is the perfect place to start. With expert guidance and a wealth of inspiration, we'll help you write an essay that engages and enlightens readers on one of life's most enduring mysteries!

Death is a universal human experience that we all must face at some point in our lives. While it can be difficult to contemplate mortality, reflecting on death and loss can offer inspiring perspectives on the nature of life and the importance of living in the present moment. In this collection of powerful essays about death, we explore profound writings that delve into the human experience of coping with death, grief, acceptance, and philosophical reflections on mortality.

Through these essays, readers can gain insight into different perspectives on death and how we can cope with it. From personal accounts of loss to philosophical reflections on the meaning of life, these essays offer a diverse range of perspectives that will inspire and challenge readers to contemplate their mortality.

The Inevitable: Coping with Mortality and Grief

Mortality is a reality that we all have to face, and it is something that we cannot avoid. While we may all wish to live forever, the truth is that we will all eventually pass away. In this article, we will explore different aspects of coping with mortality and grief, including understanding the grieving process, dealing with the fear of death, finding meaning in life, and seeking support.

Understanding the Grieving Process

Grief is a natural and normal response to loss. It is a process that we all go through when we lose someone or something important to us. The grieving process can be different for each person and can take different amounts of time. Some common stages of grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It is important to remember that there is no right or wrong way to grieve and that it is a personal process.

Denial is often the first stage of grief. It is a natural response to shock and disbelief. During this stage, we may refuse to believe that our loved one has passed away or that we are facing our mortality.

Anger is a common stage of grief. It can manifest as feelings of frustration, resentment, and even rage. It is important to allow yourself to feel angry and to express your emotions healthily.

Bargaining is often the stage of grief where we try to make deals with a higher power or the universe in an attempt to avoid our grief or loss. We may make promises or ask for help in exchange for something else.

Depression is a natural response to loss. It is important to allow yourself to feel sad and to seek support from others.

Acceptance is often the final stage of grief. It is when we come to terms with our loss and begin to move forward with our lives.

Dealing with the Fear of Death

The fear of death is a natural response to the realization of our mortality. It is important to acknowledge and accept our fear of death but also to not let it control our lives. Here are some ways to deal with the fear of death:

Accepting Mortality

Accepting our mortality is an important step in dealing with the fear of death. We must understand that death is a natural part of life and that it is something that we cannot avoid.

Finding Meaning in Life

Finding meaning in life can help us cope with the fear of death. It is important to pursue activities and goals that are meaningful and fulfilling to us.

Seeking Support

Seeking support from friends, family, or a therapist can help us cope with the fear of death. Talking about our fears and feelings can help us process them and move forward.

Finding meaning in life is important in coping with mortality and grief. It can help us find purpose and fulfillment, even in difficult times. Here are some ways to find meaning in life:

Pursuing Passions

Pursuing our passions and interests can help us find meaning and purpose in life. It is important to do things that we enjoy and that give us a sense of accomplishment.

Helping Others

Helping others can give us a sense of purpose and fulfillment. It can also help us feel connected to others and make a positive impact on the world.

Making Connections

Making connections with others is important in finding meaning in life. It is important to build relationships and connections with people who share our values and interests.

Seeking support is crucial when coping with mortality and grief. Here are some ways to seek support:

Talking to Friends and Family

Talking to friends and family members can provide us with a sense of comfort and support. It is important to express our feelings and emotions to those we trust.

Joining a Support Group

Joining a support group can help us connect with others who are going through similar experiences. It can provide us with a safe space to share our feelings and find support.

Seeking Professional Help

Seeking help from a therapist or counselor can help cope with grief and mortality. A mental health professional can provide us with the tools and support we need to process our emotions and move forward.

Coping with mortality and grief is a natural part of life. It is important to understand that grief is a personal process that may take time to work through. Finding meaning in life, dealing with the fear of death, and seeking support are all important ways to cope with mortality and grief. Remember to take care of yourself, allow yourself to feel your emotions, and seek support when needed.

The Ethics of Death: A Philosophical Exploration

Death is an inevitable part of life, and it is something that we will all experience at some point. It is a topic that has fascinated philosophers for centuries, and it continues to be debated to this day. In this article, we will explore the ethics of death from a philosophical perspective, considering questions such as what it means to die, the morality of assisted suicide, and the meaning of life in the face of death.

Death is a topic that elicits a wide range of emotions, from fear and sadness to acceptance and peace. Philosophers have long been interested in exploring the ethical implications of death, and in this article, we will delve into some of the most pressing questions in this field.

What does it mean to die?

The concept of death is a complex one, and there are many different ways to approach it from a philosophical perspective. One question that arises is what it means to die. Is death simply the cessation of bodily functions, or is there something more to it than that? Many philosophers argue that death represents the end of consciousness and the self, which raises questions about the nature of the soul and the afterlife.

The morality of assisted suicide

Assisted suicide is a controversial topic, and it raises several ethical concerns. On the one hand, some argue that individuals have the right to end their own lives if they are suffering from a terminal illness or unbearable pain. On the other hand, others argue that assisting someone in taking their own life is morally wrong and violates the sanctity of life. We will explore these arguments and consider the ethical implications of assisted suicide.

The meaning of life in the face of death

The inevitability of death raises important questions about the meaning of life. If our time on earth is finite, what is the purpose of our existence? Is there a higher meaning to life, or is it simply a product of biological processes? Many philosophers have grappled with these questions, and we will explore some of the most influential theories in this field.

The role of death in shaping our lives

While death is often seen as a negative force, it can also have a positive impact on our lives. The knowledge that our time on earth is limited can motivate us to live life to the fullest and to prioritize the things that truly matter. We will explore the role of death in shaping our values, goals, and priorities, and consider how we can use this knowledge to live more fulfilling lives.

The ethics of mourning

The process of mourning is an important part of the human experience, and it raises several ethical questions. How should we respond to the death of others, and what is our ethical responsibility to those who are grieving? We will explore these questions and consider how we can support those who are mourning while also respecting their autonomy and individual experiences.

The ethics of immortality

The idea of immortality has long been a fascination for humanity, but it raises important ethical questions. If we were able to live forever, what would be the implications for our sense of self, our relationships with others, and our moral responsibilities? We will explore the ethical implications of immortality and consider how it might challenge our understanding of what it means to be human.

The ethics of death in different cultural contexts

Death is a universal human experience, but how it is understood and experienced varies across different cultures. We will explore how different cultures approach death, mourning, and the afterlife, and consider the ethical implications of these differences.

Death is a complex and multifaceted topic, and it raises important questions about the nature of life, morality, and human experience. By exploring the ethics of death from a philosophical perspective, we can gain a deeper understanding of these questions and how they shape our lives.

The Ripple Effect of Loss: How Death Impacts Relationships

Losing a loved one is one of the most challenging experiences one can go through in life. It is a universal experience that touches people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. The grief that follows the death of someone close can be overwhelming and can take a significant toll on an individual's mental and physical health. However, it is not only the individual who experiences the grief but also the people around them. In this article, we will discuss the ripple effect of loss and how death impacts relationships.

Understanding Grief and Loss

Grief is the natural response to loss, and it can manifest in many different ways. The process of grieving is unique to each individual and can be affected by many factors, such as culture, religion, and personal beliefs. Grief can be intense and can impact all areas of life, including relationships, work, and physical health.

The Impact of Loss on Relationships

Death can impact relationships in many ways, and the effects can be long-lasting. Below are some of how loss can affect relationships:

1. Changes in Roles and Responsibilities

When someone dies, the roles and responsibilities within a family or social circle can shift dramatically. For example, a spouse who has lost their partner may have to take on responsibilities they never had before, such as managing finances or taking care of children. This can be a difficult adjustment, and it can put a strain on the relationship.

2. Changes in Communication

Grief can make it challenging to communicate with others effectively. Some people may withdraw and isolate themselves, while others may become angry and lash out. It is essential to understand that everyone grieves differently, and there is no right or wrong way to do it. However, these changes in communication can impact relationships, and it may take time to adjust to new ways of interacting with others.

3. Changes in Emotional Connection

When someone dies, the emotional connection between individuals can change. For example, a parent who has lost a child may find it challenging to connect with other parents who still have their children. This can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection, and it can strain relationships.

4. Changes in Social Support

Social support is critical when dealing with grief and loss. However, it is not uncommon for people to feel unsupported during this time. Friends and family may not know what to say or do, or they may simply be too overwhelmed with their grief to offer support. This lack of social support can impact relationships and make it challenging to cope with grief.

Coping with Loss and Its Impact on Relationships

Coping with grief and loss is a long and difficult process, but it is possible to find ways to manage the impact on relationships. Below are some strategies that can help:

1. Communication

Effective communication is essential when dealing with grief and loss. It is essential to talk about how you feel and what you need from others. This can help to reduce misunderstandings and make it easier to navigate changes in relationships.

2. Seek Support

It is important to seek support from friends, family, or a professional if you are struggling to cope with grief and loss. Having someone to talk to can help to alleviate feelings of isolation and provide a safe space to process emotions.

3. Self-Care

Self-care is critical when dealing with grief and loss. It is essential to take care of your physical and emotional well-being. This can include things like exercise, eating well, and engaging in activities that you enjoy.

4. Allow for Flexibility

It is essential to allow for flexibility in relationships when dealing with grief and loss. People may not be able to provide the same level of support they once did or may need more support than they did before. Being open to changes in roles and responsibilities can help to reduce strain on relationships.

5. Find Meaning

Finding meaning in the loss can be a powerful way to cope with grief and loss. This can involve creating a memorial, participating in a support group, or volunteering for a cause that is meaningful to you.

The impact of loss is not limited to the individual who experiences it but extends to those around them as well. Relationships can be greatly impacted by the death of a loved one, and it is important to be aware of the changes that may occur. Coping with loss and its impact on relationships involves effective communication, seeking support, self-care, flexibility, and finding meaning.

What Lies Beyond Reflections on the Mystery of Death

Death is an inevitable part of life, and yet it remains one of the greatest mysteries that we face as humans. What happens when we die? Is there an afterlife? These are questions that have puzzled us for centuries, and they continue to do so today. In this article, we will explore the various perspectives on death and what lies beyond.

Understanding Death

Before we can delve into what lies beyond, we must first understand what death is. Death is defined as the permanent cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. This can occur as a result of illness, injury, or simply old age. Death is a natural process that occurs to all living things, but it is also a process that is often accompanied by fear and uncertainty.

The Physical Process of Death

When a person dies, their body undergoes several physical changes. The heart stops beating, and the body begins to cool and stiffen. This is known as rigor mortis, and it typically sets in within 2-6 hours after death. The body also begins to break down, and this can lead to a release of gases that cause bloating and discoloration.

The Psychological Experience of Death

In addition to the physical changes that occur during and after death, there is also a psychological experience that accompanies it. Many people report feeling a sense of detachment from their physical body, as well as a sense of peace and calm. Others report seeing bright lights or visions of loved ones who have already passed on.

Perspectives on What Lies Beyond

There are many different perspectives on what lies beyond death. Some people believe in an afterlife, while others believe in reincarnation or simply that death is the end of consciousness. Let's explore some of these perspectives in more detail.

One of the most common beliefs about what lies beyond death is the idea of an afterlife. This can take many forms, depending on one's religious or spiritual beliefs. For example, many Christians believe in heaven and hell, where people go after they die depending on their actions during life. Muslims believe in paradise and hellfire, while Hindus believe in reincarnation.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is the belief that after we die, our consciousness is reborn into a new body. This can be based on karma, meaning that the quality of one's past actions will determine the quality of their next life. Some people believe that we can choose the circumstances of our next life based on our desires and attachments in this life.

End of Consciousness

The idea that death is simply the end of consciousness is a common belief among atheists and materialists. This view holds that the brain is responsible for creating consciousness, and when the brain dies, consciousness ceases to exist. While this view may be comforting to some, others find it unsettling.

Death is a complex and mysterious phenomenon that continues to fascinate us. While we may never fully understand what lies beyond death, it's important to remember that everyone has their own beliefs and perspectives on the matter. Whether you believe in an afterlife, reincarnation, or simply the end of consciousness, it's important to find ways to cope with the loss of a loved one and to find peace with your mortality.

Final Words

In conclusion, these powerful essays on death offer inspiring perspectives and deep insights into the human experience of coping with mortality, grief, and loss. From personal accounts to philosophical reflections, these essays provide a diverse range of perspectives that encourage readers to contemplate their mortality and the meaning of life.

By reading and reflecting on these essays, readers can gain a better understanding of how death shapes our lives and relationships, and how we can learn to accept and cope with this inevitable part of the human experience.

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Heidegger on Death: A Critical Theological Essay

George Pattison, Heidegger on Death: A Critical Theological Essay , Ashgate, 2013, 170pp., $34.95 (pbk), ISBN 9781409466957.

Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Kosky, Washington and Lee University

George Pattison describes his book as a critical theological reflection on death in the wake of modernity. It reflects on the meaning death can have today in human existence in general and Christian existence more particularly. But it is just as much a reflection on life and the meaning human being might or might not possess when confronted with the peculiar forms of the modern determination of death.

To conduct these reflections, Pattison proposes to meditate seriously on the thinker who perhaps more than any modern philosopher "articulate[s] something central to the modern conception of being human" (4): Martin Heidegger. What makes Heidegger's reflection on the human condition distinctive for Pattison is "the persistent rigor with which [it] thinks through the human condition in the perspective of its thrownness toward death" (4). In Heidegger, the modern dismissal of belief in life after death achieves consummate expression in a philosophy that is prepared to contemplate, without flinching, "the scandal of the entire annihilation of self and world" (5).

Pattison has chosen his interlocutor wisely.

The scandal raised by this conception of the human condition is, of course, the utter ruin of every enterprise of meaning-making. The threat of nihilism seems to run high when every aspiration begins in the contingency of thrown being-in-the-world and ends in the nothingness of death. But Heidegger is not easily positioned as a nihilist, and his philosophy resists easy characterization as a "philosophy of death." While Pattison does not make either charge in those exact terms, his account might invite such a reading. Readers should keep this in mind. Abandoning an otherworldly aspiration or divine  telos  of human existence does not destroy the phenomenon of the world, and much of Heidegger's thinking is an effort to recall this phenomenon of world and with it the human being that inheres in it. In this way, it provides a leading example of what could be called a secular turn of human thought and existence, a turn to the world or  saeculum , as distinct from a turn away from the world often associated with certain forms of theological otherworldliness or otherworldly theology.

Heidegger's secular turn re-discovers something like the question of the significance of existence. Being-in-the-world, he shows, is structured in such a way that the question of significance is inhabited when existence takes up its being in the world authentically. This authentic taking up of existence thrown toward death happens in anticipatory resoluteness, the Macquarrie-Robinson translation of vorlaufende Entschlossenheit, which Pattison frequently renders, not unreasonably, though not inconsequentially either, as "resolute running ahead toward death." On Pattison's reading, then, Heidegger represents the distinctly modern condition in which the aspiration to eternal life with God has been replaced by resolutely running toward death as the realization of authentic human selfhood. For Heidegger, the existence of such a self, though void of divine aspiration, is not without significance; indeed hearing the call to authentic existence represents a turning toward the networks of significance that Heidegger believed was the world and human inherence in it. Pattison, in opposition, does not believe that this determination of selfhood allows for the question of meaning or authenticity to be answered in a satisfying way.

This is where Pattison's reading of Heidegger becomes critical. His objections purport to target not the determination of death as nothingness, but rather the form of human existence characterized by the primacy Heidegger accords to resolute running ahead toward death. They can be summarized, I believe, in this way: authentic existence in Heideggerian terms is without hope or gratitude, overly heroic or self-determined, and, most significantly, incapable of love or ethical regard for others.

Readers should understand what is implied in these claims. For if what is distinctive about Heidegger's philosophy is its secular turn, then Pattison is in effect suggesting that love is a secular impossibility, that hope is a secular impossibility, that authentic being with others is impossible to work out within the horizon opened by a resolutely secular turn, especially as such a turn is exemplified in Heidegger's thought of being in the world.

Pattison's objections are made from two perspectives or points of view, each of which, it is worth noting, appears to give him access to the same charges.

The first perspective is confessedly Christian. It forms the expressed intention of the book's critical thrust. What are "the objections that a Christian response to Heidegger must make if it is to be true to its sources and its hope" (4)? This then gives voice to the constructive intention of the book as it "works its way towards the hope and gratitude with which a Christian response to death must begin" (7). The specifically Christian perspective and the constructive intention that proceeds from it is marked further by declarations such these: "Read in the perspective of Christian ethics, this is problematic" (94), and "For Christian faith such words of faithfulness and hope also anticipate and are, in their own way, expressive of another Word" (125).

Such phrases indicate that Pattison is speaking from a position already defined by truths presented in Christianity. This gives him secure truths by which to measure and assess the Heideggerian account of human existence, and in this assessment, the Heidggerian account just doesn't measure up. Pattison's invocation of Christianity thus affords him a fair amount of critical leverage and power, as it gives him knowledge and terms in which to level such a critique.

I have no objections to speaking from a perspective, and I have no criticism to make of Christian truths. I want only to point out how Pattison's book performs or enacts, I would say, a difference between, on one hand,  a certain form  of the secular turn, in which existence comes into and remains a question, and, on the other hand,  a certain form  of Christian belief, in which the question of existence has been settled or resolved. Someone lacking in Pattison's commitment to established truths, or someone who does not have secure access to knowledge of what it means to be a Christian or, more generally, of what it means to be, finds herself in want of the language and knowledge that would settle, put to rest, or resolve the question as it is raised by Heidegger.

Pattison's Christian response is developed largely through readings of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Martin Luther and Søren Kierkegaard, in particular Luther's pastoral works and Kierkegaard's edifying discourses. Pattison notes that these Christian authors are the ones Heidegger was reading in the early formative years when he developed the account of human existence as "mortal anxiety" (85-6). The theologians' account of the sinful condition of human existence culminating in death provided Heidegger with ontic evidence for developing his own account of human being-in-the-world as abandonment to death. But, Pattison contends, Heidegger omits from his reading of these authors precisely what would make the meditation on death and human nothingness into a transformative event, one generative of human meaning. These omissions concern chiefly reference to the divine and a theology of Creation, making for what Pattison calls "a secularized version of radical Protestant theology" (86) -- evidence again of Heidegger's secular turn.

More particularly, what Pattison finds in the theologians is that a confrontation with the nothingness of the human self is managed not by the encounter with death as it is in Heidegger, but by the self's being before God,  coram  deo . Confrontation with the divine creator brings the self to realize its own nothingness as a creature entirely and forever dependent on an other for its existence. Creature status, then, undoes the autonomy of the existential self more radically than does confrontation with thrownness toward death because the creature will never be able to overcome the passivity of its creation, whereas existing Dasein, Pattison contends (similarly to Emmanuel Levinas), does transform the passivity of its thrownness toward death into the basis for existential comprehension when it takes up this passivity in resolutely running ahead toward death. This change in the event in which authentic selfhood is realized has important consequences for the determination of the fundamental mood of human being: whereas the resolute taking up of human existence as Dasein thrown toward death happens in a mood of anxiety (Heidegger), the authentic realization of the human condition as creature happens in a mood of hope and gratitude (Luther, Kierkegaard, and Pattison), for the creature realizes her own nothingness in the face of the one who saves her and to whom she is therefore thankful. This, I think, makes the realization of authentic nothingness somewhat convenient in that it is at once redeemed.

At least for the Christian it is, but Heidegger's secular turn has omitted from his reading of Christian sources precisely what Pattison contends makes it possible for existence to be affected in such hopeful and thankful ways. This difference is at the heart of Pattison's theological critique of Heidegger: existence thrown toward death gives no ground for hope, while Christian existence created by and for God does include hope.

But is hope really a secular impossibility? And is hope (Christian or otherwise) so sure of its future? To my ears, the hope Pattison describes sounds at times more like the expectation of what it knows will come -- a future present, indeed a good one (life after death, a God who saves, and so on), expected with certainty because founded on an encounter already experienced (the God who saved). The worry or anxious concern that accompanies hope often seems pressed out of Pattison's account. But one might want to distinguish hope from expectation and contend that hope becomes meaningful when the future is unknown and indeterminate, that the nothingness of death is therefore the ground of hope, not its opposite but what calls for it: only a being aware of future nothingness hopes to be. Dasein's resoluteness, then, would not be desperate or despairing running-ahead-to-death, but in anticipating the nothingness of death, would expose us to that which makes hope a meaningful existential possibility.

The second perspective from which Pattison objects to Heidegger is not explicitly theological or religious, but aspires to a phenomenological legitimacy that would be of general or perhaps universal human significance. "A closer phenomenological reading of our relations to the dead than Heidegger himself offers" (125), Pattison claims, shows that in assigning being toward death the exclusive role in determining authentic understanding of human existence, Heidegger fails to portray correctly "the defining characteristics of human Dasein in the here and now" (14).

The failed characterization of "human Dasein in the here and now" revolves around Heidegger's account of resoluteness ( vorlaufende  Entschlossenheit ). Pattison points out that the resolution required for taking up our thrown existence in running ahead toward death is rare, indeed foreign to our human condition. The far more authentically human response is cowering, sticking your head in the sand, and crying -- "crying his very I out" as Franz Rosenzweig put it (56). We come to authentic existence not in running ahead toward our own death, but in our desire "just to remain, to stay alive" (57) and in the love and pity we show to our fellow men who suffer the same fear and share the same desire. Human weakness in the face of death does not condemn existence to inauthenticity and insignificance, according to Pattison, for our being is constituted most fundamentally in connection with others whose pain we feel as ours and whose death we suffer as our own loss. Works of love, rituals of grieving, and words of consolation in which the existence of the self is bound up with others thus realize authentic selfhood, according to Pattison, without demanding the heroism of the isolated, reticent I running ahead resolutely toward death without the community of others.

Accounts of the trials of faith offer far better testimony to authentic human existence, Pattison contends, than does Heidegger's account of Dasein'sheroic resoluteness. For what religious life teaches us is that "even life's decisive moments turn out to be not so decisive after all" (75). Life remains to be lived after the moment of decision, and the temptations to stray must be resisted again and again. Dostoyevsky's Alyosha must confront doubts that arise with the rotting corpse of the beloved holy man, Father Zossima, and Abraham can always turn back as he ascends Mount Moriah. And, Pattison adds, "the same might be said of the face to face with death" (75). He intends this remark to be critical of Heidegger -- who Pattison claims argues that, in resolute anticipation of death, Dasein gains "a conclusive view of its own life" (54) and comes to be itself finally and definitively, as it truly is as a whole. This supposed Heideggerian selfsame self-constancy, being-as-a-whole, is not true to life or human existence, Pattison objects, for resoluteness will always unravel in time, leaving Dasein doomed to inauthentic existence. There is no triumphant act of resolution in which I would decide myself once and for all and then maintain myself as myself throughout the whole of my life. Indeed such a resolution would be ethically dangerous insofar as it would make for a selfsame self closed to otherness and unaffected by others.

Now all this might hold as critique of Heidegger's existential analysis if it were really his position. I don't believe it is. The problems focus on the interpretation of anticipatory resoluteness. Pattison is, I acknowledge, in good company in offering the reading he does of the resoluteness of conscientious Dasein. His objections parallel those of Jean-Luc Marion, who interprets anticipatory resoluteness as 'autarky' and a form of self-possession, and they are heard in Levinas, who argues that in converting existential thrownness into project, anticipatory resoluteness makes existence a self-grounding principal unalterable and closed to the other. But it is far from clear to me that these readings of anticipatory resoluteness convey Heidegger's thought about the human condition.

One could object to Pattison, first of all, by stressing that anticipatory resoluteness gives possibility to existence: in opening Dasein to a possibility (death) that always remains outstanding so long as Dasein is, anticipatory resoluteness renders all that is actual not final or definitive. In this sense, anticipatory resoluteness means mutability and exposure to change; it does not mean constantly remaining the same, but openness – indeed, vulnerability to what always affects us, the world, overwhelming and altering us. If this is how authentic selfhood is realized, then far from offering the promise of disclosing the truth of our being permanently and as a whole, authentic existence entails the impossibility of Dasein picturing itself to itself in its entirety. Pattison, failing to grant this, interprets resoluteness as something like a strong-willed resolution, one made by a person of great enough willpower to keep it, a certain resolve that therefore produces a self-identical self. I, on the other hand, read it as something more like an openness that demands re-solving, repeatedly, the problems of an ever-new situation, again and again, each time. The whole that appears to resoluteness, Heidegger emphasizes, is a whole that can be and is always again taken back. [1]  This makes Heidegger's concern for presenting Dasein as a whole something other, and less problematic, than Pattison contends it is.

Next, one could point out that Heidegger knows very well that authenticity unravels in time -- in fact, he makes such unraveling intrinsic to the being of Dasein when he shows how anticipatory resoluteness turns Dasein toward what turns it back to the inauthenticity of everyday absorbed concern. That is, the resoluteness that takes up existence authentically also takes up the possibility of the straying, falling, and inauthentic existence that flees the nothingness disclosed by resolute anticipation of death. Far from describing the extraction from or triumph over everyday concern, then, what Heidegger has described is something like the genesis of its characteristic traits and the inevitability of our fall into it. Dasein is not as heroic as Pattison contends, if it finds itself in its ever falling into inauthenticity when it turns toward being-in-the-world in authenticity. [2]  Nor is it so triumphant, so capable of maintaining the willpower necessary to make the moment of decision a finally decisive moment of extraction from the failures associated with immersion in the everydayness of concern. [3]  Anticipatory resoluteness concerns a specific way to take up this everydayness, not our extraction from it. This is why Heidegger insists, time and again, that authentic existence is a modification of everydayness, a different way to be in the everyday, not an escape or evasion of it.

Why then does Pattison think it necessary to turn from Heidegger to Kierkegaard's edifying discourses to conclude that "death's decisiveness is how it turns us around so as to see what is really decisive, namely, what we are doing in and with our lives" (89)? Does he think that Heidegger is talking only about death, that all Heidegger's talk about the resolute anticipation of death does not aim to uncover a possible way to be of existence? When Pattison claims that "anxiety in the face of death is a natural human response to ceasing to be, but the ethical and religious way of dealing with this anxiety is to turn away from the vision of death itself to what should be engaging us in our lives" (103), does he think resolute anticipation of death does not give Dasein a new way of life and that, if it does, this way of life does not include ethical engagement and love of others?

Yes, that is what he thinks, especially the last point: love and ethics are foreclosed by the resolute running ahead toward death in which Dasein realizes authentic selfhood. This point is argued throughout the book, but is the focus of chapters four and five. Most telling is a footnote in which Pattison rejects efforts made by Thomas Carlson to work out a thought of love in Heideggerian terms. Though recognizing that Carlson "attributes to Heidegger a view very similar to that which [Pattison himself develops]  against  Heidegger," Pattison objects that Heidegger's "work, especially  Being and Time , [contains] elements that, so to speak, suppress it [ viz . developing an account of authentic being with others in terms of love] at birth" (126). These elements are chiefly the privilege Heidegger grants running ahead toward death in determining authentic human existence: a self that realizes its authentic human existence in running ahead toward death is incapable of love, and it cannot be with others authentically because it cannot love. Repeating the solipsism of idealism's ego in existential terms, Dasein does not need others to realize authentic selfhood and is too consumed by its anticipation of death to have any time to give to others. In short, resolute running ahead toward death produces a "hyper-individualized anxiety" (125), caring too much for itself to care for others.

I have already indicated my own suspicion that resoluteness in Heidegger does not mean what Pattison makes it out to imply. This has important consequences for understanding the ethical possibilities of being-in-the-world. Sometimes, not always, Pattison's reading of anticipatory resoluteness makes it sound like something done to the exclusion of other dealings with which I might be concerned, as if I was busy obsessing about death and couldn't help others. But resolute anticipation of death is not something done to the exclusion of other concerned dealings of existence. [4]  It is what lets Dasein take up authentically being-in-the-world, which includes as a structural item being-with-others. Authenticity, Heidegger insists, is not an extraction from the everyday, but a modification of it: it is a way to be in the everyday of existence, which includes publicness. More specifically, the issue is how to inhabit being-in-the-world and the everyday as something that matters, that is at-issue, that I care about, or else as something whose mattering is lost. With particular regard to being-with-others and publicness, then, the question posed by Heidegger is: How can my dealings with others be taken up authentically and in a way that these others matter?

To elaborate the possibility that Pattison says cannot be, a secular possibility of being-in-the-world, one would have to reconsider the sense of anticipatory resoluteness. This I take to be Carlson's project. [5]  He asks: What would it mean for running ahead toward death to be the condition that opens the possibility of authentic being-with-others? Dasein's being-in-the-world, its secularity, Heidegger emphasizes again and again, includes being-with-others; the latter is a constitutive element of the former, separable for purposes of analysis, but not in reality. The issue is how to be in the world authentically such that the being-with-others constitutive of being-in-the-world also is authentic. Heidegger's point is that authentic being-with-others has to include an enactment of the distinction that differentiates self and other lest being-with be leveled down to indifference, rendering the other not different from myself, nor myself from her. The difference of separation is enacted in my resolute running ahead toward death, understood existentially as my own most nonsubstitutable possibility. In existing toward my death, I become an isolated individual, inhabiting being in such a way that it matters to me, and thereby able to be with the other authentically -- that is to say, without taking over her being or confusing mine with hers. This would be the beginning of the secular possibility of love. Pattison does not think such a possibility possible.

However one might take this review, I enjoyed Pattison's book and recommend reading it. Clearly written, well illustrated with abundant instances of literary figures that make the account poignant and salient, it should be read for the wealth of discussion it ought to provoke -- but discussion can be maintained only so long as we do not agree too quickly to the positions and interpretations of our interlocutors, or assume that their perspectives are our own. Philosophical discussion is the squabble of lovers, a squabble I have tried to keep open in pointing out the positions, interpretations, and perspectives that belong uniquely to the author of this fine book.

[1]  " What then does the certainty which belongs to such resoluteness signify ? Such certainty must maintain itself in what is disclosed by the resolution. But this means that it simply cannot  become rigid  as regards the Situation . . . The certainty of such resolution signifies that one  holds oneself free for the possibility of  taking it back  . . . [This] is  authentic resoluteness which resolves to keep repeating itself " ( Being and Time , 355).

[2]  "Anticipatory resoluteness gives Dasein at the same time the primordial certainty that it has been closed off. In anticipatory resoluteness, Dasein  holds  itself open for its constant lostness in the irresoluteness of the 'they'" ( Being and Time , 356).

[3]  "In the moment of vision, indeed, and often just 'for that moment', existence can even gain mastery over the everyday; but it can never extinguish it" ( Being and Time , 422).

[4]  Translating  vorlaufende  Entschlossenheit  as "resolutely running ahead (toward death)" contributes to the mistaken portrayal of Heideggerian philosophy as a philosophy of death, and of being-towards-death as a practice of life done alongside of, and therefore to the exclusion of, other practices and activities. A major problem with employing "resolutely running ahead towards death" is that the phrase makes active what I think is more passive. It achieves this sense by rendering the adjective  vorlaufende  as a nominal phrase, "running ahead", and the noun  Entschlossenheit  as an adjective or adverb. "Anticipatory resoluteness" makes more palpable the sense in which the activity at issue, if indeed it is an activity, is at best the act of patience or waiting. This becomes clear in Heidegger's later use of  Entschlossenheit  as nearly synonymous with  Gelassenheit .

[5]  See Thomas A. Carlson, "Notes on Love and Death in Augustine and Heidegger,"  Medieval Mystical Theology  21.1 (2012): 9-33. The possibility that a Heideggerian conception of authentic being-with-others founded on anticipatory resoluteness might be thought in terms of love is also explored by Christian Sommer in  Heidegger, Aristote, Luther: Les sources aristtotéliciennes et néotestamentaires d'Etre  et Temps (274ff).

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5 moving, beautiful essays about death and dying

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It is never easy to contemplate the end-of-life, whether its own our experience or that of a loved one.

This has made a recent swath of beautiful essays a surprise. In different publications over the past few weeks,  I've stumbled upon writers who were  contemplating final days. These are, no doubt, hard stories to read. I had to take breaks as I read about Paul Kalanithi's experience facing metastatic lung cancer while parenting a toddler, and was devastated as I followed Liz Lopatto's contemplations on how to give her ailing cat the best death possible. But I also learned so much from reading these essays, too, about what it means to have a good death versus a difficult end from those forced to grapple with the issue. These are four stories that have stood out to me recently, alongside one essay from a few years ago that sticks with me today.

My Own Life | Oliver Sacks

As recently as last month, popular author and neurologist Oliver Sacks was in great health, even swimming a mile every day. Then, everything changed: the 81-year-old was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. In a beautiful op-ed , published in late February in the New York Times, he describes his state of mind and how he'll face his final moments. What I liked about this essay is how Sacks describes how his world view shifts as he sees his time on earth getting shorter, and how he thinks about the value of his time.

Before I go | Paul Kalanithi

Kalanthi began noticing symptoms — "weight loss, fevers, night sweats, unremitting back pain, cough" — during his sixth year of residency as a neurologist at Stanford. A CT scan revealed metastatic lung cancer. Kalanthi writes about his daughter, Cady and how he "probably won't live long enough for her to have a memory of me." Much of his essay focuses on an interesting discussion of time, how it's become a double-edged sword. Each day, he sees his daughter grow older, a joy. But every day is also one that brings him closer to his likely death from cancer.

As I lay dying | Laurie Becklund

Becklund's essay was published posthumonously after her death on February 8 of this year. One of the unique issues she grapples with is how to discuss her terminal diagnosis with others and the challenge of not becoming defined by a disease. "Who would ever sign another book contract with a dying woman?" she writes. "Or remember Laurie Becklund, valedictorian, Fulbright scholar, former Times staff writer who exposed the Salvadoran death squads and helped The Times win a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the 1992 L.A. riots? More important, and more honest, who would ever again look at me just as Laurie?"

Everything I know about a good death I learned from my cat | Liz Lopatto

Dorothy Parker was Lopatto's cat, a stray adopted from a local vet. And Dorothy Parker, known mostly as Dottie, died peacefully when she passed away earlier this month. Lopatto's essay is, in part, about what she learned about end-of-life care for humans from her cat. But perhaps more than that, it's also about the limitations of how much her experience caring for a pet can transfer to caring for another person.

Yes, Lopatto's essay is about a cat rather than a human being. No, it does not make it any easier to read. She describes in searing detail about the experience of caring for another being at the end of life. "Dottie used to weigh almost 20 pounds; she now weighs six," Lopatto writes. "My vet is right about Dottie being close to death, that it’s probably a matter of weeks rather than months."

Letting Go | Atul Gawande

"Letting Go" is a beautiful, difficult true story of death. You know from the very first sentence — "Sara Thomas Monopoli was pregnant with her first child when her doctors learned that she was going to die" — that it is going to be tragic. This story has long been one of my favorite pieces of health care journalism because it grapples so starkly with the difficult realities of end-of-life care.

In the story, Monopoli is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, a surprise for a non-smoking young woman. It's a devastating death sentence: doctors know that lung cancer that advanced is terminal. Gawande knew this too — Monpoli was his patient. But actually discussing this fact with a young patient with a newborn baby seemed impossible.

"Having any sort of discussion where you begin to say, 'look you probably only have a few months to live. How do we make the best of that time without giving up on the options that you have?' That was a conversation I wasn't ready to have," Gawande recounts of the case in a new Frontline documentary .

What's tragic about Monopoli's case was, of course, her death at an early age, in her 30s. But the tragedy that Gawande hones in on — the type of tragedy we talk about much less — is how terribly Monopoli's last days played out.

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Death is inevitable: But do you need to plan for it?

If you feel fit and healthy, dying may seem like a distant possibility that is years off

In this article, you’ll learn about what can be involved in an end of life plan, why such plans can be useful, different views about end-of-life planning, and how to get started if you want to.

Firstly, it may help to know what is meant by the term ‘end of life plan’. Generally, the term refers to thinking about what the end of your life may be like, from the care you’d like to receive to how your funeral may be. It does not mean planning to end your life, but rather understanding that dying and death are processes. And because they are processes, there is the possibility of influencing how those processes happen and are experienced. For some, it is easiest to think about it as a parallel to a birth plan or other major life event planning, like a wedding or operation.

There are several types of planning that can be done when it comes to thinking about the end of life. For example, advance care planning (or anticipatory care planning as it is known in Scotland) includes thinking about the types of treatment you may want near the end of life or stating where you would like to be cared for. This has commonly been advised for people who know they have a life-limiting condition as it can help them identify what is important to them and share that information with those caring for them.  If you want to refuse certain treatments, for example if you know that you do not want your heart restarted if it is has stopped, you can fill in an advanced decision to refuse treatment form. You can legally nominate other people to make decisions on your behalf in case you lose the ability to make decisions – this is known as a Lasting Power of Attorney. And if it is important to you, you can state preferences for a range of things that occur after your death. This can include things like who has access to your social media and online accounts after you die, and what happens to your possessions, including pets.

Commonly end of life planning has been associated with those who know they could be dying soon (either due to illness or age). For many, it has also been thought of primarily in terms of making a will, outlining who inherits your belongings. Yet, there is a growing trend in the UK and other countries to encourage everyone to make plans about their end of life, and to think about more than only material possessions.

As scary as it can be to think about, dying can and does happen at any age and from a range of factors.

Even though these plans can be helpful, not everyone wants to think about their future in this way. And that is okay. If you do not want to make decisions in advance, it can still be helpful to let those close to you know this is your stance. If you are worried about talking about the subject, because it may be upsetting to think about death, that is understandable. Some people find it easier to focus on practical elements first. And in my research about advance care planning, people commonly tell me that it can be the fear of talking about dying that is worse than actually talking once they have started. Nevertheless, everyone is different, and this difference extends to how much we want to plan for our future and talk about it with others. 

Some people may find the act of planning difficult if they do not know much about what the end of life could be like, or what they would want. There are several resources available (some linked below) that can help with this. Importantly, planning does not have to be done all in one step and you can change your decisions over time if you want to.

Watch the video to find out more about people’s experiences and thoughts with end of life planning.

Further information about end of life care planning:

Planning Ahead by Dying Matters   

End of Life Care by NHS  

Talking about End of Life Planning by Independent Age 

Advance Care Plan by Willen Hospice 

Explore the topic of Death and Dying with OpenLearn

Life or Death Decisions

Ever heard of advance care planning? Setting out what you’d want to happen to you if you became too unwell to make your own decisions doesn’t have to be morbid but can be incredibly helpful and give you peace of mind. Find out more in this interactive video simulation…

Advance Care Planning (ACP ) - Discuss, Decide, Document and Share

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is the process of thinking about, documenting and sharing one’s wishes, beliefs, values and preferences for one’s future care. This process is often captured in a document called an advance care plan. The plan and the conversations around it can be used to help align and coordinate care around these preferences. This ...

Let’s not talk about dying: Five reasons why people avoid planning for their end-of-life care

Most people haven't heard of advance care plans or may avoid planning for end-of-life care. Dr Erica Borgstrom tells us why...

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Essays About Death: Top 5 Examples and 9 Essay Prompts

Death includes mixed emotions and endless possibilities. If you are writing essays about death, see our examples and prompts in this article.

Over 50 million people die yearly from different causes worldwide. It’s a fact we must face when the time comes. Although the subject has plenty of dire connotations, many are still fascinated by death, enough so that literary pieces about it never cease. Every author has a reason why they want to talk about death. Most use it to put their grievances on paper to help them heal from losing a loved one. Some find writing and reading about death moving, transformative, or cathartic.

To help you write a compelling essay about death, we prepared five examples to spark your imagination:

1. Essay on Death Penalty by Aliva Manjari

2. coping with death essay by writer cameron, 3. long essay on death by prasanna, 4. because i could not stop for death argumentative essay by writer annie, 5. an unforgettable experience in my life by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 1. life after death, 2. death rituals and ceremonies, 3. smoking: just for fun or a shortcut to the grave, 4. the end is near, 5. how do people grieve, 6. mental disorders and death, 7. are you afraid of death, 8. death and incurable diseases, 9. if i can pick how i die.

“The death penalty is no doubt unconstitutional if imposed arbitrarily, capriciously, unreasonably, discriminatorily, freakishly or wantonly, but if it is administered rationally, objectively and judiciously, it will enhance people’s confidence in criminal justice system.”

Manjari’s essay considers the death penalty as against the modern process of treating lawbreakers, where offenders have the chance to reform or defend themselves. Although the author is against the death penalty, she explains it’s not the right time to abolish it. Doing so will jeopardize social security. The essay also incorporates other relevant information, such as the countries that still have the death penalty and how they are gradually revising and looking for alternatives.

You might also be interested in our list of the best war books .

“How a person copes with grief is affected by the person’s cultural and religious background, coping skills, mental history, support systems, and the person’s social and financial status.”

Cameron defines coping and grief through sharing his personal experience. He remembers how their family and close friends went through various stages of coping when his Aunt Ann died during heart surgery. Later in his story, he mentions Ann’s last note, which she wrote before her surgery, in case something terrible happens. This note brought their family together again through shared tears and laughter. You can also check out these articles about cancer .

“Luckily or tragically, we are completely sentenced to death. But there is an interesting thing; we don’t have the knowledge of how the inevitable will strike to have a conversation.”

Prasanna states the obvious – all people die, but no one knows when. She also discusses the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Research also shows that when people die, the brain either shows a flashback of life or sees a ray of light.

Even if someone can predict the day of their death, it won’t change how the people who love them will react. Some will cry or be numb, but in the end, everyone will have to accept the inevitable. The essay ends with the philosophical belief that the soul never dies and is reborn in a new identity and body. You can also check out these elegy examples .

“People have busy lives, and don’t think of their own death, however, the speaker admits that she was willing to put aside her distractions and go with death. She seemed to find it pretty charming.”

The author focuses on how Emily Dickinson ’s “ Because I Could Not Stop for Death ” describes death. In the poem, the author portrays death as a gentle, handsome, and neat man who picks up a woman with a carriage to take her to the grave. The essay expounds on how Dickinson uses personification and imagery to illustrate death.

“The death of a loved one is one of the hardest things an individual can bring themselves to talk about; however, I will never forget that day in the chapter of my life, as while one story continued another’s ended.”

The essay delve’s into the author’s recollection of their grandmother’s passing. They recount the things engrained in their mind from that day –  their sister’s loud cries, the pounding and sinking of their heart, and the first time they saw their father cry. 

Looking for more? Check out these essays about losing a loved one .

9 Easy Writing Prompts on Essays About Death

Are you still struggling to choose a topic for your essay? Here are prompts you can use for your paper:

Your imagination is the limit when you pick this prompt for your essay. Because no one can confirm what happens to people after death, you can create an essay describing what kind of world exists after death. For instance, you can imagine yourself as a ghost that lingers on the Earth for a bit. Then, you can go to whichever place you desire and visit anyone you wish to say proper goodbyes to first before crossing to the afterlife.

Every country, religion, and culture has ways of honoring the dead. Choose a tribe, religion, or place, and discuss their death rituals and traditions regarding wakes and funerals. Include the reasons behind these activities. Conclude your essay with an opinion on these rituals and ceremonies but don’t forget to be respectful of everyone’s beliefs. 

Smoking is still one of the most prevalent bad habits since tobacco’s creation in 1531 . Discuss your thoughts on individuals who believe there’s nothing wrong with this habit and inadvertently pass secondhand smoke to others. Include how to avoid chain-smokers and if we should let people kill themselves through excessive smoking. Add statistics and research to support your claims.

Collate people’s comments when they find out their death is near. Do this through interviews, and let your respondents list down what they’ll do first after hearing the simulated news. Then, add their reactions to your essay.

There is no proper way of grieving. People grieve in their way. Briefly discuss death and grieving at the start of your essay. Then, narrate a personal experience you’ve had with grieving to make your essay more relatable. Or you can compare how different people grieve. To give you an idea, you can mention that your father’s way of grieving is drowning himself in work while your mom openly cries and talk about her memories of the loved one who just passed away. 

Explain how people suffering from mental illnesses view death. Then, measure it against how ordinary people see the end. Include research showing death rates caused by mental illnesses to prove your point. To make organizing information about the topic more manageable, you can also focus on one mental illness and relate it to death.

Check out our guide on  how to write essays about depression .

Sometimes, seriously ill people say they are no longer afraid of death. For others, losing a loved one is even more terrifying than death itself. Share what you think of death and include factors that affected your perception of it.

People with incurable diseases are often ready to face death. For this prompt, write about individuals who faced their terminal illnesses head-on and didn’t let it define how they lived their lives. You can also review literary pieces that show these brave souls’ struggle and triumph. A great series to watch is “ My Last Days .”

You might also be interested in these epitaph examples .

No one knows how they’ll leave this world, but if you have the chance to choose how you part with your loved ones, what will it be? Probe into this imagined situation. For example, you can write: “I want to die at an old age, surrounded by family and friends who love me. I hope it’ll be a peaceful death after I’ve done everything I wanted in life.”

To make your essay more intriguing, put unexpected events in it. Check out these plot twist ideas .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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In writing this comparison essay of William Stafford’s poem “Traveling through the Dark” and Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Black Snake,” I will compare and contrast them and hopefully shed some light, bringing to the surface parts within the poems that are my perspective of what the authors may be saying and how it relates to nature. While doing this I will explain what I believe to be the similarities and differences in the views of the writers towards nature in each of the two poems. In William Stafford’s poem “Traveling through the Dark,” Stafford’s poem is written in first person.

The poem is an 18 line poem with four quatrains and Stafford ends the poem with a closing couplet. He uses the abcb slant rhyme in this poem. The poem uses the sound reinforcements of assonance and alliteration (Traveling, enotes, 2007). In Mary Oliver’s poem “The Black Snake,” Oliver writes the poem in third person point of view. Oliver uses six stanzas to write her poem that is written in third person omniscent point of view using the word “he” in the narrative. Some of the similarities in the two poems are that they both presenting death as being unpredictable but certain.

The cars symbolize death in both poems. I believe that both poets are showing us there are times we are forced to stop and make decisions that in the end determine the type of character we have. However, in Mary Oliver’s poem “The Black Snake,” we read the gentle, maternal-like voice of the narrator “carry him [the snake] into the bushes…he is beautiful and quiet as a dead brother. ” Whereas in Stafford’s poem we read the direct first person account of “pushed her over the edge into the river.”

However, in some of the readings I read for this, some interpretations saw the “pushing over the edge” as a negative trait of the first person narrator. But I feel strongly it was not. I saw the action as being thoughtful, concerned and the best action to take at the time under the circumstances presented—otherwise, we wouldn’t read the words, “I thought hard for us all. ” Mary Oliver approaches a “nature-consciousness” (Artist, 2007) in her poetry with more of a Walt Whitman/Henry David Thoreau style and with more of a gentle reverence in her perspective of nature.

Whereas, Stafford reads to have a more direct and somewhat more of an immediate forceful style to his poetry—if I were to use a comparison in writers for Stafford, I might say he uses almost a Hemingway-ish approach in his direct approach at writing at times. In their writings, both poets use techniques such as metaphors, symbolism and personification in their poetry. In “The Black Snake” we can see the “suddenness of the snake’s death as a metaphor for the fragility of life and the certainty of death” (Oliver, 2007).

Again, we see the insight Oliver has in always seeing the parallel aspects between human life and nature and subtly allowing the reader to find these comparisons in her poem. The snake Oliver refers to as “a dead brother” is thought to represent the snake in Genesis that represents the “biblical book of Genesis and death” (Oliver, 2007). Stafford uses metaphor in relating the road in his poem as the road of life. The reader can see the present in his poem as the illuminated section of the road. We also see life represented in the fawn still and forever to remain inside the womb of is mother.

Also, as stated in one of my sources, the deceased deer is what forces the man to stop along the road, while death is one of the things which causes humans to stop and take time for decision-making (traveling, enotes, 2007). This time taken to make decisions can be seen as nature waits while he considers his decision about the deer, “hear the wilderness listen. ” Stafford could be said to be writing with a more realist perspective, with less reverence or some might say less of that “nature-consciousness” approach to his style than Oliver.

The reader sees Stafford as using logic in thinking of the safety of the other motorists by his actions with somewhat less of an emotional commitment to his natural surroundings. Whereas Oliver could be thought of as presenting a greater concern of creatures within the environment if we were to evaluate their views of nature just by these individual poems. Not meaning to judge their decisions, I just personally couldn’t see the narrator in “The Black Snake” ramming a deer with it’s fawn inside her belly over a cliff.

One might even go so far as to suggest a generalization here; “Traveling through the Dark” has more of a male perspective to it whereas “The Black Snake” could be seen by some as having more of a female perspective to the poem. Although, personally I don’t feel there really exists a great difference between how William Stafford and Mary Oliver revere nature, it is more in the terms of how they each express their thoughts and the words they have chosen to use that may indicate differences in their individual perspectives of nature.

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Death - an essay.

This essay may not hold a position by the end. See the original meaning of writing essays if you're confused .

A cursory search for discussion articles on death , though not necessarily optimized to exploit the best results, yielded   several   results   that   I wasn't   necessarily satisfied with . Particularly because nothing was definitive, nothing particularly convinced me one way or the other. Why?

Testimonials of how awful the death of a loved one was to a person doesn't satisfy me since I get emotional evidence, not necessarily empirical evidence. There were cultures that revered honorable deaths, I think of the Vikings that searched for the opportunity to die if it meant dying well, and I'm sure there were many other complex emotional testimonies one could have gleaned from such figures, and still might. Historical stories about the systematic killings of members of certain nationalities, religious groups and other affiliations strike me as the result of politics at its most grizzly, where death is the ultimate punishment. And yet I can't help but think of what a martyr must have been thinking in their minds as their doom drew to a close. Or what people do when death is an inevitability that they cannot control, and have to cope with the idea of dying. One might claim that there is an almost universal understanding of death, yet research suggests that the fear of death in children is a learned phenomenon , that understanding the dread of death is developmental milestone . (Note that these are not definitive sources on such subjects, and further discussion can improve or mitigate the effects of this potential evidence).

Some might find death a liberation from their lives of pain, whether they be attributed to individual circumstances or otherwise because they convinced themselves their life is hell, or for other reasons. I will occasional see a promoter for death, talking about lowering overpopulation, elder influence, and stagnation as a result of not having a timed lifespan to operate under. I'll see people arguing death is a meaningless concept, where time is an illusion, or where there are infinitely many copies of you existing in the multiverse, making immortality a moot concept and goal. Otherwise, some may claim that the fear of death is an evolutionary bi-product, where those individual organisms that feared death had better overall selection over those that did not(another cursory search of source on this subject yielded myriad soft paywalls, additional verification would be highly appreciated).

And of course, who can forget the group of people interested in cryonic preservation, in the hopes of being saved by a new technological age. I imagine in such a group, death should not even be an option. Either because it would do the most good, or because it is the ultimate solution for the more ego-centric utilitarians. One could argue here about the cost-effectiveness of such ambitions, and that brings up a whole other kettle of fish that could simply be left without debate if more basic assumptions about death are argued about instead.

Personally, I've had only one near-death experience (though mild compared to others). It involved nearly drowning in the ocean as I was getting pulled away by tide from shore. I don't think I've ever worked so hard in my entire life before, my life depended on me being able to swim back. Of course I understand the urge to live. Ironically enough, I've had suicidal thoughts as well, though attempts at such were not very creative, and ultimately scraped for fear of putting my family in a bind. I can't really say anything on the nature of my personal stance, other than the fact that I'd like to accomplish more things before I kick the bucket, if I ever want to kick the bucket.

I am aware that this is a broad topic, and I suppose I'd prefer the topic stayed fresh in the discussion realm. Consider this an act of curiosity, exploration. I'm not so eager to declare any stances on the subject, vast subjects rarely get my eager conclusions. I hope very much that I'm the only one, and that discussion will alleviate some of this apprehension.

I think that this essay failed to explained why death is bad. I will list some point to show that death is bad:

• Death is end of existence, so any positive thing which is associated with life is also ending with death. If you like floweres, there is no flowers. There is full eternity without flowers.
• Non existence itself is known to create existential fear. Moreover, non-existence after death can't be proved, and there is a chance of suffering in some form of bad quantum immortality, there you can't die. So we can't advocate death as a way to stop sufferings.
• Moments before death are often the most emotionally and physically painful for a person. Moreover they often include prolong periods of unbearable pain of unimaginary strong intensity. Cancer patients, death in fire and asphyxiation are known to cause unbearable sufferings.
• Death mean that I can't finish all my projects, and I will stop be usefulness as altruist
• Death is loosing of information, biggest part of which is unique.
• Death is unpredictable by its time and form, and thus is extreme burden for any planning.
• Death of relatives create strong and long emotional sufferings.
• Conversely, anything negative will also end. If you don't like being depressed, there won't be depression once you're dead. There is full eternity without depression.
• I guess you're 2 was a counterargument to my 1. I need some literature on this, I don't quite understand.
• Human reactions to impeding doom don't have to reflect on death. Reality doesn't have to conform to our emotional reactions to it, after all. We can only come closer to understanding that reality, and if that requires understanding and accepting one's own mortality, shouldn't that be a priority? I mentioned the source regarding development stages because it seems children do NOT always innately understand death, it is an acquired knowledge, a milestone, according to this theory. So why learn the fear of death, which can cause so much emotional struggle in a person, instead of teaching death's primary result: the termination of gene propagation for an individual.
• Again, agreed.
• Once more, agreed. though I suppose wills help with such planning to an extent, among other actions.
• Conversely, if a relative is suffering from their illness, death can provide for a release from that suffering. This probably ties back into point 2.

Overall, agree that the essay failed to explain why death is bad. It also failed to explain why death is good. Hence it being an essay, it didn't have purpose other than to put thoughts out into the open and rekindle discussion. My intention was to talk, not make claims.

I don't think he was taking a stance on death as he stated the essay may not hold a position in the end.

Whose says death is bad? Only those who believe death is a bad thing.

The perspective of death lies within cultural context. Is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end?

Also #2, there might be a chance no suffering in some form of quantum immortality. And #3 there are such things as peaceful deaths too. I agree with #4 and #5 though. Losing information draws some setbacks unless their knowledge was recorded somewhere.

Although I am not a Freudian...(different discussion)

He once believed that the basic instincts involved life vs death...Eros vs Thanatos. Freud thought that people who have had rough lives will probably want to suicide but the pleasure principle (life/eros) outweighs the thanatos urges; which then produces this whole war inside a person. He once said "The goal of all life is death"...in his Beyond the Pleasure Principle book 1920. Kind of conflicts with the cryonic people.

Why fight the laws of entropy?

Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 The Voice

At best, life is unpredictable. No one knows whether a pleasant or harsh future awaits. Perhaps it is better that way. It would be nice if good actions always guaranteed a pleasant future, but they don’t. Sometimes, in this fallen world, it is just the opposite. One thing is certain, however: everyone faces death. It is the great equalizer. Yet the teacher is assured of something else: those who are right with God and live wisely are in His hands.

Teacher: 7  So here is what you should do: go and enjoy your meals, drink your wine and love every minute of it because God is already pleased with what you do. 8  Dress your best, and don’t forget a splash of scented fragrance. 9  Enjoy life with the woman you love. Cherish every moment of the fleeting life which God has given you under the sun. For this is your lot in life, your great reward for all of your hard work under the sun.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

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Why is Life So Unpredictable? And How to Cope with It

The unpredictability of life is the fact that we are all aware of. As human beings, we try to plan and schedule our lives the best way we can, but there’s no certainty if it would turn out to be exactly how we want. No one knows what the next hour is going to bring us, and while the lack of control gets frustrating at times, it is beautiful in itself.

Controlling everything all the time makes us responsible for all our actions every second, which can take a huge toll. On the other hand, if life was predictable, we’d know exactly what was going to happen; therefore, all of our actions would be preplanned under the occurrence.

But then, would our lives be exciting, thrilling, or interesting in any way at all?

Would you be able to feel the adrenaline rush after your team won the nail-biting finale of your favorite match?

Would you jump in the air because you are unable to control the happiness of a job promotion?

The answer would be no.

We would have been unaware of these feelings because no element of uncertainty would exist.

It is because life is too unpredictable that we are able to enjoy it to the maximum ability. It allows us to take risks, to take a turn not knowing where the destination would be. Yes, we do hold the ability to plan our future, but we can’t determine whether our plans would succeed or fail.

In case of success, you get to ascend a step allowing life to help us grow. But if it becomes a failure, you get the chance to learn, acknowledge your flaws, and improve yourself to achieve success. The unpredictability of life opens doors of opportunities that you couldn’t have imagined and let them take you wherever destined. We can steer our lives but to a certain limit, and that’s what makes it exciting.

While we are fully aware of the unpredictability, most of us are unable to cope with it. Have a look at how you can better deal with the uncertainties:

Table of Contents

Show kindness to yourself

Life is really unpredictable, so most of the things that happen aren’t your fault because they aren’t in your control. Unfortunately, we at times start holding ourselves responsible for a failure that we couldn’t have seen coming. For that, we end up mocking ourselves, which isn’t the right thing to do.

Instead of beating yourself up, accept that whatever happened was uncertain and stop holding yourself accountable. Give yourself a fair margin and be kind to yourself. You should give your best in all situations but realize that that’s the most you could have done.

Give yourself credit

There must have been moments where you survived a stressful event or dodged a failure successfully. Give yourself full credit for what happened. While most things are not in our control, some are, and you were only able to succeed because you were mindful of your actions, speech, and decisions. Reflect on all of those moments and analyze every time that you did right. Make sure to make them a permanent part of your life and learn from all your wrong actions. It’s only when you recognize the errors that you are able to improve them and make better decisions in the future. Evaluation is a major key to dealing with life’s unpredictability.

Develop new skills

Just because life is too unpredictable doesn’t mean it’s always coarse. There are many points where it’s calm and monotonous. Instead of giving in to the monotony, do something different. This might include trying a new sport, taking up a challenging project, learning a new language, etc.

Developing new skills allow you to establish better qualities or traits in your personality that can help you deal with hurdles and stumbling blocks that life throws at you. Every skill has something better to add up to your profile, and each one of those is beneficial to deal with the uncertainties. For example, it might increase your patience level, ability to focus or strengthen your cognitive abilities. All of these are important to cater to the severities in life. 

Don’t dwell on uncontrollable things

At times, when life strikes us with uncertainty, we immediately start ruminating on negative scenarios or consequences that can adversely affect our lives. Instead of dwelling on something that’s not in our control, try to harness your emotions and negative thought patterns to cultivate optimism.

It’s only when you are fully aware of the circumstances and rational in your thoughts that you are fully capable of making good decisions. So, don’t let negativity grow on you; it’s only going to make things worse.

Engage in positive self-talk

Whenever life throws challenges on you, take your advice first instead of anyone else. Only you know your capabilities, and only you can channelize them. Engage in self-talk; ask yourself if any of your close friends were facing the difficulty, what advice would you give them?

You’ll be better able to recommend yourself the best possible option to tend to. Giving yourself an external perspective or looking at the situation from new eyes can give you fresh ideas and better viewpoints on dealing with a situation. After all, life is really unpredictable, and only you can aid yourself.

Take control of what you can

The key to coping with unpredictabilities is taking control of what you can. It doesn’t have to mean going out of your way to do that. It can include planning your meals , laying out your clothes, sleeping on time, meditation for ten minutes a day, or anything that gives your life a structure.

Being relaxed and in a comfortable position in life makes you better capacitated to deal with problems.

Pro Tip: I know a Calming Weighted Blanket has helped everyone in my household during times of high stress or unpredictable moments. A weighted blanket lets us get a good night’s sleep so our brain can handle the next day’s stressors.

Ask for support

Many of us choose to isolate ourselves in times of stress, which is very wrong. However, there’s nothing wrong with asking for support from the people you trust. Their moral support can uplift your spirits and might even present you with better ideas to deal with a situation.

Therefore, you should talk to people, discuss your problems, and ask for support whenever necessary.

In Conclusion

Life is really unpredictable, and that’s the exact facet of it that makes it worth living. First, however, you must take all the necessary steps to cope with it in the best way. Instead of giving in to the challenges, strengthen yourself to give your best and come out of them stronger.

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Death Is Inevitable, Essay Example

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It is very difficult to predict the timing of death because people have different life circumstances that may affect their will to live or desire to die. Thus, it is important to help dying get rid of their guilt or worries and make them feel good about themselves. It is also important that both the dying people and their relatives are honest with each other. If they will be honest with each other, they will be able to express whatever it is on their mind. Otherwise, they will only be fooling themselves because dying people often know when their time has come near so it doesn’t pay to hide the fact from them. Similarly, if dying people are not honest with their family and relatives, they hesitate to say what they really want to communicate.

But just because someone is near death doesn’t mean we stop caring about them as well as trying to make them happy. Those responsible for the patient care can play a huge role in changing the mood of the dying people. Moreover, caregivers should also encourage the patients to share their feelings and thoughts to release mental stress.

It is never a good practice to force dying people to do things they don’t want to do and it includes food and drink. Patients should only be given food and drink when they desire it and not because caregivers or relatives may be worried. This is because dying patients have different food and drink needs from an average healthy person.

It helps if the caregiver is able to feel empathy towards the dying patients. This will help the caregivers understand the pain and needs of the dying patients and make efforts to make them feel comfortable. Dying people often have poor self-image because they are conscious of their weak bodies and their reliance on others. In such cases, caregivers can make dying patients feel better about themselves by engaging them in some activity.

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Essay on Life Is a Journey

Students are often asked to write an essay on Life Is a Journey in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Life Is a Journey

The concept of life.

Life is often compared to a journey. Just like a journey, life has a beginning and an end. We are born, we grow, and we eventually pass away.

Paths in Life

In our life journey, we traverse different paths. Some paths are smooth, others are rocky. These paths represent the challenges and triumphs we face.

Travel Companions

On this journey, we are never alone. We meet people who become our companions. They help us navigate our path and make our journey worthwhile.

Lessons Learned

Life, like any journey, teaches us valuable lessons. These lessons shape us into who we are and guide us towards our destination.

In conclusion, life is a journey filled with experiences and lessons. Embrace the journey and cherish every moment.

250 Words Essay on Life Is a Journey

The metaphor of life.

Life is often compared to a journey, a metaphorical concept that demonstrates the progression of life from birth to death. This journey is not merely a physical one, but rather a voyage of self-discovery, personal growth, and understanding.

Unpredictability and Challenges

The unpredictability of life’s journey is what makes it thrilling and daunting at the same time. We encounter various challenges, obstacles, and detours that test our resilience. These obstacles can be seen as opportunities to learn, adapt, and grow, shaping our personalities and perspectives.

Companionship on the Journey

Life’s journey is also marked by the companions we meet along the way. These relationships, whether they last a lifetime or a fleeting moment, can have a profound impact on our journey. They provide us with valuable lessons about empathy, love, and the importance of connection.

Appreciating the Journey

The journey of life is not just about reaching a destination. It’s about appreciating the journey itself, the experiences, and the growth that comes with it. It’s about understanding that each step, each decision, and each experience, positive or negative, contributes to our overall journey.

In conclusion, life’s journey is a complex tapestry of experiences, lessons, and relationships. It is unpredictable, challenging, and filled with opportunities for growth. As we navigate through it, we must remember to appreciate the journey, the companions we meet, and the lessons we learn. After all, life is not just about the destination but the journey itself.

500 Words Essay on Life Is a Journey

The metaphor of life as a journey.

The metaphor of life as a journey is a profound and timeless one. It illustrates the process of human existence, from birth to death, as a voyage filled with experiences, challenges, and learning. This metaphor encourages us to perceive life not as a destination but as a journey, where the ultimate goal is not to reach a particular endpoint, but to grow, learn, and evolve along the way.

Stages of the Journey

The journey of life is composed of several stages. Each stage represents a unique phase of our life, marked by distinctive challenges and opportunities for growth. The stages begin with childhood, a time of innocence and discovery. This stage is followed by adolescence, a period of exploration and self-definition. Adulthood comes next, bringing with it the responsibilities of career, family, and society. Finally, old age is a time for reflection, wisdom, and acceptance.

Challenges and Growth

Just as any journey is fraught with obstacles and difficulties, so too is the journey of life. These challenges, however, should not be seen as deterrents but as opportunities for growth and self-improvement. They provide us with the chance to learn about our strengths and weaknesses, to develop resilience, and to cultivate empathy and understanding towards others. Each challenge we overcome makes us stronger and more capable, shaping us into the individuals we become.

The Importance of the Journey

The essence of the journey metaphor lies in its emphasis on the process, rather than the destination. It teaches us to value the experiences and lessons we gain along the way, rather than fixating on a final goal. This perspective encourages us to live in the present, to appreciate our current circumstances, and to make the most of every moment. It reminds us that the journey itself is the reward, and that every step we take is a part of our personal growth and evolution.

The Role of Companionship

No journey is meant to be undertaken alone. Companionship plays a crucial role in our life’s journey. Our companions – family, friends, mentors – provide us with support, guidance, and encouragement. They share in our joys and sorrows, help us navigate through difficulties, and enrich our journey with their presence. Companionship adds depth and meaning to our journey, making it all the more worthwhile.

Conclusion: The Journey Continues

In conclusion, life is a journey filled with stages, challenges, growth, and companionship. It is a voyage that provides us with countless opportunities to learn, evolve, and become better versions of ourselves. As we navigate through this journey, it is important to remember that the value lies not in the destination, but in the journey itself. As we continue on our path, let us cherish our experiences, learn from our challenges, appreciate our companions, and above all, enjoy the journey. Because, in the end, life is not about where we are going, but how we get there.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Death is Unpredictable but Certain Essay Example

• Pages: 3 (642 words)
• Published: August 7, 2016
• Type: Essay

This essay will discuss and draw comparisons between William Stafford's poem "Traveling through the Dark" and Mary Oliver's poem "The Black Snake". Our primary objective is to analyze their viewpoints on nature and explore the similarities and differences in their works. It is worth noting that Stafford's poem adopts a first-person perspective.

The poem by Stafford has 18 lines in four quatrains, concluding with a closing couplet and using the abcb slant rhyme scheme. He uses assonance and alliteration for sound reinforcement (Traveling, enotes, 2007). In "The Black Snake" by Mary Oliver, she takes on a third person point of view. The poem is narrated from an omniscient perspective in six stanzas, using the pronoun "he." Both poems portray death as uncertain and inevitable.

Both poems utilize cars as representations of mortality, emphas

izing the importance of pivotal choices in shaping our identities. However, Mary Oliver's poem "The Black Snake" conveys a tender and nurturing tone, as the speaker delicately moves the snake into the bushes and describes it as serene and reminiscent of a deceased sibling. Conversely, Stafford's poem adopts a more straightforward and intimate approach by describing how someone is forcefully pushed over the edge into a river.

Various interpretations arose regarding the character trait of the first-person narrator in certain readings. While some viewed it as a negative trait, portraying it as "pushing over the edge", I hold a contrasting belief. Personally, I perceive the action to be considerate and attentive, representing the optimal decision given the presented circumstances. The phrase "I thought hard for us all" exemplifies this perspective. Mary Oliver's poetry mirrors a nature-consciousness akin t

Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau, displaying a tender respect towards nature.

Stafford's poetry shares similarities with Hemingway's approach, as both poets employ metaphors, symbolism, and personification. In "The Black Snake," Stafford uses the sudden death of the snake as a metaphor to convey the fragility and inevitability of life's end (Oliver, 2007).

Once again, Oliver demonstrates her keen insight into finding parallels between human life and nature, inviting readers to discover these comparisons in her poem. The snake mentioned by Oliver, referred to as "a dead brother," symbolizes the snake in Genesis associated with death (Oliver, 2007). Stafford also employs metaphor in his poem, likening the road to the journey of life. In his work, the illuminated section of the road can be seen as the present moment. Additionally, the fawn represents life, forever remaining within its mother's womb.

According to one of my sources, the man stops along the road because of the deceased deer, which is similar to how humans stop and take time for decision-making when faced with death (traveling, enotes, 2007). This pause to make decisions can be seen as nature waiting while he contemplates what to do with the deer. Stafford's writing style is often characterized as more realistic and less focused on revering or having a "nature-consciousness" approach compared to Oliver.

The text highlights the contrasting perspectives on nature held by Stafford and Oliver. Stafford's approach is more logical and focused on ensuring the safety of other drivers, while Oliver demonstrates greater concern for creatures in their environment. It is important to clarify that these observations are solely based on the individual poems and

do not seek to pass judgment. Personally, I struggle to believe that the narrator in "The Black Snake" would intentionally harm a pregnant deer and her unborn fawn by pushing them off a cliff.

While some may argue that "Traveling through the Dark" and "The Black Snake" have differing perspectives based on gender, I believe William Stafford and Mary Oliver actually share similar views on nature. The distinction lies in their unique approaches to conveying these thoughts and the choice of words they employ, potentially stemming from variations in their individual outlooks on nature.

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Everyday Dangers / Life or Death: Everyday Survival Situations

Life or Death: Everyday Survival Situations

• Category: Life
• Topic: Everyday Dangers , Survival

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