In the previous two posts of the Epicureanism 101 series, I laid out the key views of Epicurus on happiness, pleasure, and desires. In short, Epicureans think we attain happiness by seeking pleasure. And the path to pleasure runs through fulfilling desires that are both natural and necessary. In this one, we’ll talk about the fear of death.
Unlike other forms of hedonism, Epicurean hedonism takes pleasure as something like a static state of tranquillity. To live a pleasurable life, we need to overcome our anxieties, fears, and mental and physical troubles.
According to Epicurus, the fear of death stands out as one of the key things that bothers people. And so, in this post, I’ll say a word about that fear and how to overcome it.
Why Talk so Much about the Fear of Death?
Before we jump into the philosophical arguments, let’s start with a worry. Some readers might wonder why the fear of death is so important. Why does it stand out among our many other fears, anxieties, and troubles?
In short, the Epicurean thinks the fear of death underlies and supports many of our ordinary fears. For an obvious example, consider the Silicon Valley tech bros who fund life extension ‘research.’ A fear of death almost certainly sits under that.
Ordinary people are more complex than tech bros. However, when we dig deeper, we still often find the fear of death. Many people accumulate money, even middle or upper middle income people. They do this, in part, to pick up goods (large houses, fancy vacations, et al.) to take their mind, for awhile, from the cold reality of their mortality.
Expanding on this, we can look to other desires Epicurus calls unnatural (or empty) – desires for power or fame. People hold these desires to, among other things, ‘make one’s mark’ on the world. At heart, these are ways of putting death out of one’s mind or overcoming it with force. In short, they’re ways of resisting our human mortality.
Interestingly enough, some psychological research agrees with Epicurus on the point. This research suggests that the fear of death sits beneath a wide range of phobias and anxiety disorders. And so, many other fears arise out of a more basic fear of death.
Four Fears of Death
In this section, I’ll take philosopher James Warren as my guide. His book Facing Death goes into great deal on Epicurean arguments against the fear of death.
Specifically, he points out that it’s not really the fear of death. Rather, we have several fears of death. Some people, like the Silicon Valley tech bros, are afraid of their own mortality. Others fear dying before they’re ready or the process of physical and mental breakdown that might happen before death.
And so, we should start by drawing a distinction, as Warren does, between four different types of fears of death. These types cover the range of things people fear:
1. Fear of the state of being dead (i.e., that death is bad for a person)
2. Fear of mortality itself (i.e., the fact that one will die)
3. Fear of premature death (i.e., that it’s bad to die too soon)
4. Fear of the process of dying (i.e., that a painful death or suffering is bad for a person)
To help us overcome our fear of death, the Epicurean will need to say something about all four of these fears.
The State of Death and Mortality
To address Fear (1), Epicurus leans heavily on the symmetry argument. And while it has many facets, it works basically like this: imagine what your life was like before you were born. Of course, it wasn’t like anything at all. According to the Epicurean, death works exactly like that.
It doesn’t harm you. So, there’s no reason to fear the state of being dead.
The argument works by claiming that only things you can perceive can harm you. People feel physical pain and mental suffering. They have a noticeable impact on one’s life and well being. Death, by contrast, doesn’t, because you don’t perceive it.
However, some philosophers claim it’s possible to have unperceived harm. They say that things like being laughed at behind your back can harm you, even if you can’t perceive it. But that’s not very convincing. If gossip harms you, it’s because people treat you differently as a result of the gossip. And you do perceive that.
While this argument covers Fear (1), it also addresses Fear (2). Since being dead is nothing to us, there’s hardly a reason to fear mortality. Why fear mortality, when death doesn’t harm us?
The Narrative of Life and Premature Death
Fears (3) and (4) are tougher. Let’s work through them.
Many of us think life has a narrative structure. We are born, raised by parent(s) or caregivers, mature into adults, and then grow old. If we die before the later stages, we might say we didn’t have a full life. Many – especially those suffering from terminal illness – fear early death.
I think Epicurus has two things to say to this. First, recall that pleasure is the absence of pain and suffering, particularly of a mental sort. Once we achieve ataraxia – a state of tranquillity – pleasure doesn’t increase. It merely varies. This means we can achieve the highest pleasure in life before a ‘complete’ life cycle.
Once we achieve ataraxia, we haven’t been ‘robbed’ of time. And so, the Epicurean would advise the person suffering from terminal illness to achieve ataraxia rather than fear death.
Second, even if we might die early, we should acknowledge that we often don’t know when it will come. Most of us have no idea when it will happen. Thus, there’s little reason to fear it.
However, with all this said, these are merely useful tools for the vast majority of us. There are still a few people – such as children with terminal illnesses – for whom some version of Fear (3) might still be a rational fear. For people in that camp, Epicurus would recommend the love and support of friends to help cope with fear.
The Process of Dying
Fear (4) concerns suffering during the process of dying. Some methods of death – difficult cancers, bad accidents, violent attacks – involve hardship and suffering along the way. Surely it’s rational to fear that, right?
Epicurean texts spend less time on this one. It’s a major focus of neither Epicurus nor Philodemus, a famous Epicurean.
But the Epicurean has some tools here. For one, they can appeal to uncertainty. When we lack a specific illness or specific reason to fear a painful death, there’s little point in speculation. However, this doesn’t cover everyone. For others, particularly those with terminal illnesses, I think the Epicurean has to conceded that limited amounts of Fear (4) could be rational.
However, this opens the door to Epicurean political action. Could the Epicurean advocate for a compassionate form of assisted suicide for people in the late stages of terminal illness? It’s quite likely. This could also help ease this type of fear of death.
Taking Stock
As a last word, I’ll note that Epicurean arguments against the fear of death depend on the idea that our emotions come, to a large degree, under our intellectual control. They result from cognitive errors and false beliefs.
Insofar as that’s true, the Epicurean provides us with great tools to fight against fears. But if it’s not true, the Epicurean doesn’t. Thus, Epicurean advice depends on the assumption that certain strong evolutionary or psychological accounts – ones that claim emotions are adapted and fixed – are false.
Fortunately, the Epicurean stands on strong ground here, at least for most people.
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P.S.
Since we’re at the third post in the Epicureanism 101 series, let me again link to the first two posts:
