Understanding death essential to the way we live
Posted on 15 July 2008
These questions and more will be debated at a major conference this July, hosted jointly by the University of York and The Open University.
An understanding of death is central to the way we approach our personal lives
Dr Stephen Holland
Entitled Death: What it is and why it matters, the event will bring together philosophers from across the world to debate the meaning and metaphysics of dying. Speakers from Switzerland, Canada, the US, South Africa and the Netherlands will join experts from all over the UK for the two-day event in York on 17-18 July.
Dr Stephen Holland, of the Department of Philosophy at the University of York, said:
"The topic may sound a little morbid. But an understanding of death is central to the way we approach our personal lives. What should one’s attitude be to one’s own death? Also, death is central to some of the biggest public problems we face. Should we permit bringing about some deaths by abortion or euthanasia?
"Scientific advances are continuing to raise questions about what constitutes death, and recent work on emotion offers to throw fresh light on our responses to bereavement and to the prospect of death. This conference will bring together all these threads and we hope to make a real contribution to the debate about life and death."
For example, Professor Tim Chappell from The Open University will continue his debate on ‘Infinity goes up on trial’, a paper he recently published in The European Journal of Philosophy in which he argued:
"Many people, including the philosopher Bernard Williams, have raised the question whether eternal life would be something that we humans could or should want. Williams offers us a dilemma: either my eternal life would have to get boring for me, or else I would have to stop being me. I will question both horns of this dilemma."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- More information on the conference at www.open.ac.uk/Arts/death/