Confrontations with the Reaper: A Philosophical Study of the Nature and Value of Death

by Fred Feldman

What is death? Do people survive death? What do we mean when we say that someone is "dying"? Presenting a clear and engaging discussion of the classic philosophical questions surrounding death, this book studies the great metaphysical and moral problems of death. In the first part, Feldman shows that a definition of life is necessary before death can be defined. After exploring several of the most plausible accounts of the nature of life and demonstrating their failure, he goes on to propose his own conceptual scheme for death and related concepts. In the second part, Feldman turns to ethical and value-theoretical questions about death. Addressing the ancient Epicurean ethical problem about the evil of death, he argues that death can be a great evil for those who die, even if they do not exist after death, because it may deprive them of the goods they would have enjoyed if they had continued to live. Confrontations with the Reaper concludes with a novel consequentialist theory
about the morality of killing, applying it to such thorny practical issues as abortion, suicide, and euthanasia.

Genres: Philosophy, Death, Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[SimonZhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book!
It talks about the nature of death. Feldman argues against the Standard Defination and comes up his own defination of death. However, Feldman recognizes that his defination is troublesome too.
In terms of the value of death, Feldman argues against Epicureanism that death can be bad. He brings up the "symmetry problem" and attempts to solve it in defending his "deprivation account".
I like the way he does his analysis but his language can be boring. I give 4.25/5 ... so rounds down to 4/5.

[Stephanie McGarrah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Strange book that analyses death from a materialist perspective. When the author says it’s a study of the nature and value of death they mean that literally and even though I find the questions raised provocative I don't think the mysteries of death can or should be solved like an equation.

Another case of could have been interesting but wasn't.