DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY

PHIL 204 - Life, Death and Meaning (Syllabus)

Instructor: Rogney Piedra Arencibia
E-mail: r.piedraarencibia@queensu.ca
Website: https://queensu.academia.edu/RogneyPiedra
Office: TBA
TA: TBD
PHIL 204 is scheduled for Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. and Fridays from 2:30 to 4:00 pm in
McLaughlin Hall, Room 315.

Course description
In this class, we will be discussing one of the most debated topics of philosophical thought: the meaning
of life and death. Most of us, at a certain—often decisive—moment in our lives will be faced with deep
existential questions: What should I feel, think, or do regarding the assured future of my own death? Is
life worth living? Does my life have a meaning? If not, can I do something to give my life meaning? Is
that even possible? What does ‘the meaning of life’ mean, anyway? Unsurprisingly, these questions have
been the object of intense philosophical reflection and debate since ancient times. Moreover, being such a
universal and pressing topic, not only in philosophy but also in the religious and artistic expressions of the
human mind has made of this subject, such questions of life, death and meaning have been principal
themes through history across all cultures and epochs.

Therefore, although our main lens in this course will be that of modern Western philosophy, we will
examine religious, artistic, musical, and literary works to better understand the meaning of life and the
role of death in it. We will learn about the ideas of Epicurus, Lucretius, Hegel, Feuerbach, and Zizek on
death while considering paintings like Jacques Louis David’s The Death of Socrates and The Death of
Marat. We will discuss biblical passages and other religious texts and practices addressing death. We will
examine Tolstoy’s classic short novel The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking
movie Memento. We will read Hume’s and Kant’s writings about death and suicide. We will listen to and
analyze musical works like Chopin’s famous Funeral March of his Piano Sonata No. 2 and the song La
vida sigue igual by the Spanish singer Julio Iglesias. You will be introduced to the Soviet philosopher
Evald Ilyenkov’s ideas on the meaning of human life. Finally, we will reflect on what it means to live a
meaningful life by examining fictional works like the movies Fight Club and Into the Wild, and the
manga (graphic novel) Berserk.

[The course is intended for the 200-level with an expected enrollment of approximately 60 students.]

Learning outcomes
 Demonstrate critical awareness of some of Western philosophy’s most thought-provoking
reflections about death, suicide, and the meaning of life.
 Develop active reading skills intended for philosophical texts.
 Improve critical-spectator skills by identifying philosophical content in works from classical and
popular culture.
 Refine rational debate and presentation skills as a foundation for theoretical thinking.
 Conduct philosophical inquiry demonstrating knowledge of the course topics, creativity, and
scholarly integrity.
 Obtain a system of theoretical tools for critically understanding, evaluating, and transforming our
daily lives.

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Requirements and evaluation

The components of the course’s evaluation system will be the following:

1st paper (1000-1200 words) Due Oct. 11 25%

2nd paper (1000-1200 words) Due Nov. 15 25%
Participation in class debates --- 10%
Final paper (1250-1600 words) Date TBD 40%

Students will produce two short papers in addition to the final paper, which will be mandatory for the
entire class. For the first essay, a list of prompts will be given for the students to choose from. For the
second, students can freely choose a topic from the course. (You should always check with your TA or
the professor if your topic idea is appropriate). Nonetheless, a list of topics will also be given in this
second assignment’s instructions for those unsure of what to write about. In both cases, your graders will
assess your knowledge of the subject, creativity, and writing skills. Further detailed instructions for each
of these assignments will be given at an appropriate time during the course.

Academic integrity statement

Each student is responsible for familiarizing herself with the regulation concerning academic integrity, in
particular, with its five core values: honesty, truth, fairness, responsibility, and respect (see
www.academicintegrity.org). Some common departures from academic integrity are plagiarism, the use of
unauthorized materials, facilitation, and forgery. The sanctions for incurring these and other forms of
infractions to academic integrity might range from a simple warning of the professor to withdraw from
the university, depending on their gravity.

Late assignment submission and extensions policies

Deadlines for assignments will not be extended unless you present evidence of a valid excuse, such as a
medical emergency. If you submit an assignment late without a documented excuse, your grade will be
deducted 3% per day. The turnaround time for getting comments on a late assignment could be
considerably longer than for those which are submitted on time.

Conduct, equity, and diversity statement

A respectful and democratic learning environment, where no one would be treated as inferior or superior
due to her ethnical origin, sexual identity, and religious or political beliefs, is crucial to ensure social
justice within a university and a necessary condition for academic excellency.

The dialogue and open debate between all the participants will be one of the course’s principal features.
Some of the problems and ideas that we will be debating have such significance in our lives that ardent
and passionate discussions will be inevitable. With all this in mind, I strongly encourage you to take the
code of conduct very seriously in this course. An academic discussion can only be fruitful within the
framework of respect among equals, and enthusiasm—a good thing in itself—must not transform into an
excuse to forget this.

Discrimination, in any form, will not be tolerated in this class. I encourage all its participants to commit
to a welcoming environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing their thoughts honestly,
respectfully, and freely.

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Topics and Readings by Weeks

Week # Topic name Readings and other materials

1 The death of the Other - Chopin. Funeral March

- Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilych
(first chapter).
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,
Phenomenology of Spirit (fragments: §s
31-32, 450-2, 582-95)

2 Should we fear death? - Stephen E. Rosenbaum, ‘How to Be

Dead and Not Care: A Defense of
Epicurus’
- C. Nolan. Memento

3 Immortality and finitude - The Bible. John 11:25-26

- Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
- Ludwig Feuerbach, Thoughts on Death
and Immortality (chapter 1. God)

4 Is suicide ethical? - Jacques Louis David, The Death of

Socrates
- David Hume, ‘Of Suicide’
- John Hillcoat, The Road
- Immanuel Kant, ‘Suicide and Duty’
5 What does ‘meaning’ mean? - David Fincher, Fight Club
- Terry Eagleton, The Meaning of Life
(chapter 1).
6 Suicide and loss of meaning - Sean Penn, Into the Wild
- Thomas Nagel, ‘The Absurd’
- Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
7 Pessimism vs optimism in life - Ronny Yu, Fearless
- Arthur Schopenhauer, ‘On the Sufferings
of the World’
- Samantha Vice, ‘Optimism
and Meaning’
8 The meaning of the soul’s life - Julio Iglesias, La vida sigue igual
- Terry Eagleton, The Meaning of Life
(chapter 2).
- Cameron Crowe, Vanilla Sky
9 The meaning of Spirit’s life - Miloš Forman, Amadeus
- Evald V. Ilyenkov, Cosmology of the
Spirit
10 Terror: death as a political instrument - Jacques Louis David, The Death of
Marat
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel,
Phenomenology of Spirit (fragments: §s
582-95)
- Armando Iannucci, The Death of Stalin
- Slajov Zizek, Did Somebody Say
Totalitarianism? (chapter 3)

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11 Life as a quest for meaning - Kentaro Miura, Berserk (selected

fragments)
- Richard Taylor, ‘The Meaning of Life’
12 My (individual) life and its (universal) - Christian Frei, War Photographer
meaning - Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of
Christianity (Introduction)
- Peter C. Caldwell, Love, Death, and
Revolution in Central Europe (chapter
5)

All readings will be available electronically, either:

• On the onQ page for PHIL 204 (click on ‘content’ for readings and lecture slides)
• Or else via links in the bibliography below (may require campus access: https://www.queensu.ca >
“search and sign in” > “web proxy”)

Readings will include extracts from

Caldwell, Peter C. 2009, Love, Death, and Revolution in Central Europe, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Camus, Albert 2013, The myth of Sisyphus, London: Penguin. (also available at:

https://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil360/16.%20Myth%20of%20Sisyphus.pdf)

Eagleton, Terry 2007, The meaning of life. Oxford University Press.

Feuerbach, Ludwig 1980, Thoughts on Death and Immortality: From the Papers of a Thinker, along with
an Appendix of Theological-Satirical Epigrams: University of California Press.

Feuerbach, Ludwig 1989, The Essence of Christianity, New York: Prometheus Books. (also

available at:

https://ocul-qu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_QU/15tp3o5/

cdi_hathitrust_hathifiles_pst_000001126921)

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich 2018, Phenomenology of Spirit: Oxford University Press.

(also available at:

https://ocul-qu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_QU/r9dor2/

alma9952462291805158)

Hume, David 2016, ‘Of Suicide’, in Life, death, and meaning: Key philosophical readings on the big
questions, edited by David Benatar: Rowman & Littlefield. (also available at: https://ocul-
qu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_QU/15tp3o5/
cdi_hathitrust_hathifiles_mdp_39015078577437)

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Ilyenkov, Evald Vasilyevich 2017, ‘Cosmology of the Spirit’, Stasis, 5, 2: 164-90. (also available at:
https://stasisjournal.net/index.php/journal/article/view/19)

Kant, Immanuel 2016, ‘Suicide and Duty’, in Life, death, and meaning: Key philosophical readings on the
big questions, edited by David Benatar. Rowman & Littlefield.

Nagel, Thomas 2016, ‘The Absurd’, in Life, death, and meaning: Key philosophical readings on the big
questions, edited by David Benatar: Rowman & Littlefield. (also available at: https://ocul-
qu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_QU/15tp3o5/
cdi_proquest_journals_1290588093)

Rosenbaum, Stephen E. 2016, ‘How to Be Dead and Not Care: A Defense of Epicurus’, in Life, death, and
meaning: Key philosophical readings on the big questions, edited by David Benatar. Rowman &
Littlefield. (also available at:
https://ocul-qu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_QU/15tp3o5/
cdi_proquest_journals_1297321295)

Schopenhauer, Arthur 2016, ‘On the Sufferings of the World’, in Life, death, and meaning: Key
philosophical readings on the big questions, edited by David Benatar. Rowman & Littlefield.

Taylor, Richard 2016, ‘The Meaning of Life’, in Life, death, and meaning: Key philosophical readings on
the big questions, edited by David Benatar. Rowman & Littlefield.

Tolstoy, Leo N. 1960, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’, in The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories, translated
by David Magarshack. London: New English Library. (also available at: https://ocul-
qu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_QU/15tp3o5/
cdi_hathitrust_hathifiles_uc1_c080984238)

Vice, Samantha 2016, ‘Optimism and Meaning’, in Life, death, and meaning: Key philosophical readings
on the big questions, edited by David Benatar. Rowman & Littlefield.

Zizek, Slavoj 2011, Did Somebody Say Totalitarianism?: 5 Interventions in the (Mis) Use of a Notion: Verso
Books.