TY - BOOK ID - 78073477 TI - Annihilation : the sense and significance of death AU - Belshaw, Christopher AU - Belshaw Christopher Staff PY - 2009 SN - 1317492773 1315711710 128294732X 9786612947322 1844654117 9781317492771 9781844651344 1844651347 9780773535527 0773535527 9780773535534 0773535535 9781315711713 9781317492757 9781317492764 9781844651351 PB - Durham : Acumen Publishing, DB - UniCat KW - Death. KW - Death KW - Dying KW - End of life KW - Life KW - Terminal care KW - Terminally ill KW - Thanatology KW - Philosophy KW - Philosophical anthropology KW - Physiology: reproduction & development. Ages of life KW - Immortality (Philosophy) UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78073477 AB - The ever-present possibility of death forces upon us the question of lifes meaning and for this reason death has been a central concern of philosophers throughout history. From Socrates to Heidegger, philosophers have grappled with the nature and significance of death. In Annihilation, Christopher Belshaw explores two central questions at the heart of philosophys engagement with death: what is death; and is it bad that we die? Belshaw begins by distinguishing between literal and metaphorical uses of the term and offers a unified and biological account of death, denying that death brings about non-existence. How our death relates to the death of the brain is explored in detail. Belshaw considers the common-sense view that death is often bad for us by examining the circumstances that might make it bad as well as the grounds for thinking that one death can be worse than another. In addition, Belshaw explores whether we can be harmed after we die and before we were born. The final chapters explore whether we should prevent more deaths and whether, via cryonics, brain transplants, data storage, we might cheat death. Throughout Belshaw shows how questions of personhood and lifes value are bound up with our views on the sense and significance of death. Annihilations in-depth analysis and insightful exposition will be welcomed not only by philosophers working on the metaphysics of death but also by students and scholars alike looking for a foundation for discussions of the ethics of abortion, euthanasia, life-support and suicide. ER -