The Book of Dead PhilosophersDiogenes died by holding his breath. Plato allegedly died of a lice infestation. Diderot choked to death on an apricot. Nietzsche made a long, soft-brained and dribbling descent into oblivion after kissing a horse in Turin. From the self-mocking haikus of Zen masters on their deathbeds to the last words (gasps) of modern-day sages, The Book of Dead Philosophers chronicles the deaths of almost 200 philosophers-tales of weirdness, madness, suicide, murder, pathos and bad luck. In this elegant and amusing book, Simon Critchley argues that the question of what constitutes a 'good death' has been the central preoccupation of philosophy since ancient times. As he brilliantly demonstrates, looking at what the great thinkers have said about death inspires a life-affirming enquiry into the meaning and possibility of human happiness. In learning how to die, we learn how to live. |
Contents
Thales 5 | 5 |
Timycha 11 Heracleitus 11 Aeschlyus 12 | 12 |
Prodicus | 20 |
Theophrastus 28 | 28 |
Pyrrho 37 Zeno of Citium 39 | 39 |
Lucretius | 46 |
Kongzi Confucius 51 Laozi Lao Tzu 53 Mozi | 53 |
Han Feizi 59 | 59 |
Hobbes 139 Descartes 141 | 141 |
La Rochefoucauld 146 Pascal 147 Geulincx 149 | 149 |
Anne Conway 150 Locke 151 Damaris Cudworth 154 | 154 |
Malebranche 159 Leibniz 159 Vico | 161 |
Montesquieu 167 | 167 |
Rousseau 177 | 177 |
Kant 185 Burke | 188 |
Schiller 192 Fichte 193 Hegel 194 | 194 |
Seneca 66 Petronius 69 Epictetus 70 | 70 |
Marcus Aurelius 73 Plotinus 74 Hypatia | 76 |
St Paul 81 Origen 83 St Antony 84 | 84 |
St Gregory of Nyssa 87 St Augustine 88 Boethius | 91 |
The Venerable Bede 97 | 97 |
Solomon Ibn Gabirol 103 | 103 |
Albert the Great 111 St Thomas Aquinas 111 | 111 |
William of Ockham | 117 |
Machiavelli 123 | 123 |
Petrus Ramus 129 | 129 |
Bacon 134 Campanella | 135 |
Heine 202 Feuerbach 202 Stirner | 203 |
Kierkegaard 210 | 210 |
Freud 217 Bergson 219 Dewey | 219 |
Santayana 224 Croce 225 Gentile 226 | 226 |
Wittgenstein 232 Heidegger 234 | 234 |
Gadamer 243 | 243 |
Beauvoir 252 Arendt | 253 |
Camus 262 Ricoeur 263 Barthes | 263 |
Deleuze 270 Foucault 271 Baudrillard | 273 |
LAST WORDS | 279 |
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Common terms and phrases
accept According Aeschylus ancient Apparently Arcesilaus argues Aristotle asked became become begin believed body buried called cause century Christian claim close Cynics dead death Descartes described desire died Diogenes divine dying entirely Epicurus existence experience expression face famous fear final give given Greek hands happy head Hegel history of philosophy huge human idea immortality influence Italy John killed knowledge known later live look manner matter means mind mortality nature never one’s original pain Paris perhaps Persians person philo philosopher Plato political possible present Pythagoras question reason relation remains replied scepticism seems seen simply Socrates soul Spinoza story student suffering suicide things third Thomas thought tion true truth turn universe wife writes written wrote Zeno