‘TILL DEATH DO US

PART
THE HUMAN PERSON TOWARDS THEIR IMPENDING DEATH
OBJECTIVES:
a.) Define death;
b.) List the things that you want to achieve and projects that you
want to do; and
c.) Draw a symbol of your idea of a meaningful life and write
something about it.
EXPIRATION DATE : ??/??/????
Have you ever wondered about how nothing seems to last
forever? Your jeans get worn out until they can’t be used
anymore, food and drinks expire, and trends become out -dated
after some time. Even more, what about the cycle of being
born, growing up, getting sick, and dying? These point to one
very important reality about our human condition: we are
temporal beings or “beings oriented towards death.”
Death is commonly understood as the end of the bodily
functions which signals the end of a person’s life.

It also refers to the separation of the body and spirit. As

mentioned in the prior modules, the human person is an
embodied spirit. The body, being material, is bound by the laws
of time and space and is subject to growth, death, and decay.
The spirit being immaterial will continue to exist even after the
body has passed.
Embodiment allows us to transcend but does not exempt
us from the laws of nature.

It is true that a person’s spiritual nature allows us to transcend

temporality and physical limits. However, we cannot also deny the
material nature of the person, that we are still bound by the same
laws of nature and reality that apply to all objects in existence.
It can also be said that we are beings who are
moving towards our impending death. This
makes a person’s life limited in time. The
focus on this limit has led to several attitudes
towards death. There are people who deny
the idea of human decline and death. Some
people rely on anti-aging treatments and
products to make them look, feel and think
that they are younger than they really are.
Others focus on experiencing intense feelings
in order to feel alive because no one really
knows when life will end. This has given rise
to various expressions such as #YOLO (You
only live once) and “eat, drink, and be merry
for tomorrow we die.”
Epicureanism

The Greek philosopher Epicurus

promoted the philosophy of living
life to its fullest extent. In his
philosophy, the path to true
happiness lay in the pursuit of
pleasure. The English idiom “eat,
drink and be merry, for tomorrow
we may die.” is often ascribed to
Epicurus.
These attitudes are not necessarily bad but they may prevent us
from reflecting on the reality of death. We must embrace the fact
that death is an integral part of our life. Once we have come to
terms with that, we can focus not just on the quantifiable aspects
of life (e.g., tears lived, material things owned) but also on its
quality. Ultimately, the acceptance on our temporality can bring
about a sense of freedom in us. It can also give us a clearer purpose
and focus on our activities. Since we cannot do everything in our
lifetime, we must be able to reflect on what we need to do and
identify the goals we need to achieve so we can say that we have
lived a meaningful existence.
 How should I live my life before it finally ends?
Understanding the person as a being - towards - death brings us back to a very important
topic: freedom. It has been discussed previously that the essence of freedom is self-
determination – the capacity to choose and act for oneself. While there is no freedom in
inevitability of death, person can still exercise freedom in choosing how to face the
reality of death in their lives.
● How do we see life?
● What is morality? And am i mooral?
● What is my plan, goal, dream?
● What and how do i find fulfillment?
 The temporal existence of a person means that his or
her life is temporary; he or she is not a being who exists
permanently or for eternity.

Accepting the fact that we have a limited time in this world allows us to determine
the course of our life, that is, to paint a picture of how our life will progress and how
we envision it to end. While most people would prefer to not have any sort of limit,
it make perfect sense to appreciate the beauty of something as it is framed with
certain lines. The key idea is that we all have a vocation to live life in the best
possible way that we can – by being excellent persons.
Temporality challenges us to make choices that will be good
for us and the people around us.

It must also be noted that since we have a body, we are always in the moment – we
exist here and now. The person is always in the present although his spiritual nature
allows him to transcend the present. Whenever we make a choice, we cannot undo
that choice because that present moment has now gone into the past. On the other
hand, the choices we make in the present are not always confined to here and now
as they also have an impact on the future. Past, present, and future are not exclusive
and isolated moments in time, but they are experienced together by the person
because of the dynamism provided by being an embodied spirit.