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Is death a big deal?

Why?

Urizen's thread "test your morality" asks if Hitler's infant life is of as much value as the Holocaust victims. What is it that gives life value that would allow one the ability to properly make such a decision?

Does death really matter? Does life? Why?

Originally posted by Regret
Is death a big deal?

Why?

Urizen's thread "test your morality" asks if Hitler's infant life is of as much value as the Holocaust victims. What is it that gives life value that would allow one the ability to properly make such a decision?

Does death really matter? Does life? Why?

Life's value is inherent (i.e. you are born with it). The fact that regardless of gender, race, color, size, etc. each person is equal to the other is what mathematicians like to call a theorem; an accepted truth. There is more evidence in disproving racism, sexism, ageism, etc. than in proving it, so it is with an air of "negative theology" that the value of human beings is accepted as inherent.

Death varies with those who view it. I find death not as a final destination but a journey. Since birth we are "dying" to finally die is like getting off the buss at your stop. Other people see it as the be all and end all. So it's really a matter of opinion.

To speak off the topic, one is never in the right to kill someone. Even in self-defense it is contradictory/redundant/"nonprofitable". Regardless of the outcome, jeopardizing a life, let alone ending one, is wrong/immoral and should be avoided/prevented at all cost.

Mama mia, what questions.
Originally posted by Regret
Is death a big deal? Why? Yes. Because, at the very least, we are genetically hardwired to feel that way.

Urizen's thread "test your morality" asks if Hitler's infant life is of as much value as the Holocaust victims. What is it that gives life value that would allow one the ability to properly make such a decision?I'm too small a being to make such a vast and far-reaching decision.

Does death really matter?
For many reasons. But basically, death is change, and change matters because our universe and everything in it changes.

Death matters regardless of one being a Theist or an Atheist. Death for Theists means a beginning of life. For Atheists it means the end of life. Either way, that has major implications.

Life is of instrinsic value regardless of morality and regardless of result. I beleive that Hitler's life is just as valuable as my own, as anyone else's. Even though I couldn't care less about him or his life, objectively he is my equal, he is your equal, he is worth just as much as we are.



The idea of morality taints our mentalities and creates biases which in turn cause us to rate the worth of other people and thier lives.



Sometimes the idea of morality itself is more evil than what we percieve as evil.



Life is of absolute worth. Life is precious. You may or may not experience another.

Life is valuable, because it is finite.

I think I'm going to have to disagree with just about everyone here.

I disagree that value is inherent in life. I think that there are actually things that give life value. To name a couple

1 - Potential. This does tend to be inherent in life. A younger life tends to have more of it than a life that is close to its end. Also, people who work hard gain more potential even as they achieve their previous potential, thus giving their lives even more value.

2- Service. A person who makes the world a better place for others has increased the value of his life immensely. He will be missed far more than someone who wasted their life via alcohol or drugs. And even more than that over someone who spent their life doing evil to others.

There are others, love, Family and friends, etc.

So while I would agree that each life starts with a similar value (the potential), I would say that each person decides what their life will be worth by the end.

Value cannot be imposed from the outside. Each person creates value that is specific to their own life, and the lives of the people around him or her.

Originally posted by Regret
Is death a big deal?

Why?

Urizen's thread "test your morality" asks if Hitler's infant life is of as much value as the Holocaust victims. What is it that gives life value that would allow one the ability to properly make such a decision?

Does death really matter? Does life? Why?

In my opinion: having something to live for.

Mi famillia, my possessions and my fear of Judgement are what keep my going en este vida.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
Life is of instrinsic value regardless of morality and regardless of result. I beleive that Hitler's life is just as valuable as my own, as anyone else's. Even though I couldn't care less about him or his life, objectively he is my equal, he is your equal, he is worth just as much as we are.



The idea of morality taints our mentalities and creates biases which in turn cause us to rate the worth of other people and thier lives.



Sometimes the idea of morality itself is more evil than what we percieve as evil.



Life is of absolute worth. Life is precious. You may or may not experience another. Wouldn't morality also give value to life that doesn't necessarily have value? Does a person trapped in a 20 year coma have the same value of life as a functional contributor to society? Social justice taught in Catholicism seems to think so.

It is mostly our physiology that makes life so valuable, what means human passions, desires, needs, etc... We need to fulfill our wishes and follow our human ecology, that includes staying alive and live a good life.

Life is good because death is usually put as a bad thing. Life is good because it is usually thought as the only good thing that ever existed in the universe even if its efemeral and has some suffering within it.

the good fortune that happens. the way the creek travels down the mountain and gurgles. the perfect day at the beach. These experiances give life meaning.
talking with my grandparents. hanging out with my uncle. Watching my brother perform at a gig.

Life is precious, but so is Death.

Life has no inherent value.

value is assessed by each individual person based on their beliefs, morals and viewpoint. Some place a greater value on life than others.

to say that life has no value means that a person can be cruel and inhumane. Everybody has value. sons value their mothers.
I value my family so yes I value life

Originally posted by speiderman
to say that life has no value means that a person can be cruel and inhumane. Everybody has value. sons value their mothers.
I value my family so yes I value life

some are cruel and inhumane. I believe it's obvious that they hold life at a lower value than you or I. It's all relative to each person's thought, ideas, beliefs and morals.

I think the question then is what exactly is value ?

Life is given meaning by fear. Nothing else.

If people were not afraid of being forgotten they would never bother to do anything.

If people were not afraid of death they would not bother to live.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Life is given meaning by fear. Nothing else.

If people were not afraid of being forgotten they would never bother to do anything.

If people were not afraid of death they would not bother to live.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen


Question?

Originally posted by Regret
Is death a big deal?

Why?

Urizen's thread "test your morality" asks if Hitler's infant life is of as much value as the Holocaust victims. What is it that gives life value that would allow one the ability to properly make such a decision?

Does death really matter? Does life? Why? I'm not sure whether you're asking what it is people perceive to give their lives value i.e. what gives life meaning, or whether you're asking what it is people perceive that makes a life valuable i.e. what's a life worth.

In any event I imagine any answer given will be entirely subjective and baseless, and consequently for all intents and purposes relatively meaningless.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Question?



Not everyone is ruled or dominated by fear. I disagree with your conclusion. Other factors such as Love, sex, desire for pleasure, need to interact, etc. motivate us to continue life.

i think life is a choice. i believe people have the ability to make there lives what they want it to be.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
Not everyone is ruled or dominated by fear. I disagree with your conclusion. Other factors such as Love, sex, desire for pleasure, need to interact, etc. motivate us to continue life.

Technically all of that can be traced back to varying fears of isolation.

Thats just my opinion though.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Technically all of that can be traced back to varying fears of isolation.

Thats just my opinion though.


My desire and particpation to have wild gay orgy sex has nothing with fear of anything. In fact, if fear was my primary motivation, i wouldn't be doing it, out of fear of STD's and such (which i might already have ,i wouldn't be surprised)



I think pleasure is what gives life value. Without pleasure and its varieties, no one will value this life.

If we're speaking on an individual level then pleasure and pain (or fear of pain) are definitely the primary motivators, but I don't know that I'd go so far as to say that they provide value to the life - Certainly not from a societal viewpoint.

I don't mean it as superficial as it sounds, but I can't quite explain my point.


If Life were only suffering, then it would be worthless, because it would be undesirable.

I interpreted the question as: "What is a life worth?" If the situation occurs, are there factors which influence/determine whether someone lives or dies, or is all human life equal?

Originally posted by Storm
I interpreted the question as: "What is a life worth?" If the situation occurs, are there factors which influence/determine whether someone lives or dies, or is all human life equal?


It begs the question, "what is life"


Is life your actions, is life simply our conciousness, is it as simple as existance?



How do we universally gauge the worth of life, if we can't define life universally ?

The thing that gives life meaning: knickers

Originally posted by Regret
What Gives Life Value For me it's the things that bring me joy and pleasure.

Originally posted by Regret
Is death a big deal? For some...no. Once you die, life is over. You wont know anything, you wont care about any thing, no more worries or pain. It's like eternal sleep. For those God fearing people, it's a big deal, either it's the day you become free and spend the rest of eternity in eternal bliss or you spend eternity in pain and despair.