Human Person as Oriented

Towards Their Impending

Death
 Content Standard
The learner understands human
beings as oriented towards their
impending death.

Performance Standard
The learner writes a
philosophical reflection on
the meaning of his/her own
life
Learning Competencies

• Reflect on the meaning of his/her

own life
• Explain the meaning of one’s life
• Enumerate the projects or goals one
wants to accomplish in life
Are you afraid to die?

Have you felt the chills when you imagine

yourself leaving in this world?

Have you ever felt the terror of being buried

6-feet below the ground?

Have you felt the loneliness that your family may

experience when you’re gone?
 Death is the cessation of life. There is no statutory
definition, nor, indeed, a fixed definition of common law.
In relation to medical treatment, the court may consider
that a person's being in a persistent vegetative state is
sufficient to indicate that his or her life need no longer be
preserved by artificial means, while not accepting the
concept of euthanasia. It is important in many different
legal contexts. The absence of brain-stem activity is
coming to be recognized as a sound practical test.
 LIFE - pertains to the
significance of living or
existence in general

DEATH –was simply equated to the

stopping heartbeat and breathing
UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH
VS
LEAP OF FAITH
 UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH

God is dead”: Nietzsche and the Death of God

Friedrich Nietzsche is perhaps most famous for making

the striking claim that God is dead. He writes, “God is
dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!”
(GS 125).
UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH

What does this mean?

Straightforwardly, it seems nonsensical. God is supposed

to be eternal, and thus cannot die. Nietzsche’s claim,
however, is that “God” is a fiction created by human
beings. Thus, God “dies” when there is no good reason
to believe that God exists.
 UNCERTAINTY OF DEATH

Nietzsche negates this idea and says “God is

dead” – the people themselves killed their own
God by following a belief system that is far
different from its (religious) essence. God is
dead for those who despair, for those who are
hopeless about their present life. But Nietzsche
teaches us to fight and live the moment – live
life to the fullest.
 “Sometimes people don't
want to hear the truth People create illusions to
because they don't want feel better. They suffer the
their illusions destroyed.” present but don’t want to
― Friedrich Nietzsche deal with it.
 Death is the only way towards the otherworld – a
place created by man where suffering will end and
life will be better. This is not true according to
Friedrich Nietzsche. Death is just an illusion
created by man. We shall know the true meaning of
the Christian way of life – our lives should not be
doomed forever looking towards otherworld.
 LEAP OF FAITH

Death is not measurable by reason alone. We do not

know what’s inside the realm of death. But what we
can do is to prepare for something greater than death –
living a true Christian way of life. Death is the
fulfillment of life, and for Kierkegaard, we have to
take a risk. Let us not settle on the things we know, but
let this knowledge strengthen our conviction and take
a leap of faith: that there is a reward after death, new
life.
 LEAP OF FAITH

TAKING THE RISK is Kierkeggard’s concept of

Life before Death.

If death is all about taking a risk, what does it want to

imply?
According to Soren Kierkegaard, risk is reduced when we
put certainty on a matter of faith. In simplest terms, there are
no risks in the present when we try to put reason first before
faith.
It is a battle between what I BELIEVE and what I KNOW –
matters of FAITH and REASON.
 Heidegger Concept of Death

Martin Heidegger stands in between the

philosophy of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard though
both of them point out one conclusion: living life
to the fullest. He stands between in such a way
that he focuses on the subject matter itself which
is the human person rather than focusing on
death alone.
 Heidegger Concept of Death

We are born to die. Our death is certain once we are born –

this is the existential anxiety that Heidegger philosophizes
towards the concept of death.
For Heidegger, death is just a fulfillment of our being, and
part of this process is the existential anxiety – realization
about death. Death is not a thing, not an object, but rather
an instance of being non-being.
 Difference of anxiety and fear when it comes to
the concept of death?

FEAR ANXIETY

“Has an object towards “Has no particular object”

death” It is just a feeling of non-
Perhaps fear of the manner beingness.
of death like getting We cannot identify an object of
gunshots, falling off from anxiety
cliff, or any accidents When it comes to the
realization of death.
 CONCLUSION

FEAR ANXIETY

It is always constant that Anxiety is far different

there is an object of fear form fear – it is just a
towards death – we fear feeling of what if’s: What if
death because there is a I die? What would happen?
physical pain that may What about my family?
occur. etc…
 The ultimate question now is…

How do you face your fear/anxiety?

For Martin Heidegger, there are two ways on how we

face death.

FIRST, is an ESCAPE from the anxiety of

death.

SECOND way is to face death is to ACCEPT

death.
 Meaning of Life:
Historical, Contextual, and Existential Experience of Life

What is my purpose in life?

 The Meaning of “Meaning”
One part of philosophy of life’s meaning consists of the systematic
attempt to identify what people have in mind when they think about the
topic or what they mean by talk of “life’s meaning.”
For many in the field, terms such as “importance” and “significance”
are synonyms of “meaningfulness” and so are insufficiently revealing,
but there are those who draw a distinction between meaningfulness and
significance.
 There is substantial consensus is that meaningfulness is not all or
nothing and instead comes in degrees, such that some periods of life are
more meaningful than others and that some lives as a whole are more
meaningful than others. Note that one can coherently hold the view that
some people’s lives are less meaningful (or even in a certain sense less
“important”) than others, or are even meaningless (unimportant), and
still maintain that people have an equal standing from a moral point of
view.
 Meaning of Life:

HISTORICAL For example, the meaning of life

First, the meaning of life is always
specific to a historical milieu. It
has a historical character. That is,
life situation is time-bound.
today is totally different from the
meaning of life even just a few
decades ago when smartphones,
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
where non-existent.
 Meaning of Life:

CONTEXTUAL
“you are the context, and
everything else is the
Second, the meaning of life is contextual.
content".
It is a serious oversight to assume that the
meaning of life for an African American
living in New York is the same for a
Filipino living in Dumaguete City.
 Meaning of Life:

EXISTENTIAL

Third, the meaning of life is For an artist, for example, to

existential. Each person has her way of
thinking, valuing, viewing, and
interpreting what constitutes a
meaningful life.
produce a masterpiece is his
singular passion, whether this
is an art, or a musical score;
while a scholar dreams of
writing and publishing a book.
The Reality and Experience of Death: The Different
Kinds of Death

In this section, we will continue to reflect on the

limits and limitations of human life. We will do this
by way of thinking about the reality and experience of
death. Our lives might be limited because of death but
this does not curtail nor prevent us from living more
and for being alive along with others.
 Two Kinds of Death:
Natural and Unnatural Death

Natural Death- is a normal death, this is also called

biological death. An example of this kind of death is
when people die of old age. Another example is when
people die from genetic illnesses or disorders like
cancer or Down syndrome.
 Two Kinds of Death:
Natural and Unnatural Death

Unnatural Death- also called human-made death, an

example of this kind of death is when people die due to
human decisions and actions. Whether directly or
indirectly, unnatural death comes to people as a
consequence of human decisions and actions.
Death Comes Too Soon: Poor,
LGBTQ, and Marginalized
 Death Comes Too Soon: Poor,
LGBTQ, and Marginalized

1. Poverty and uneven distribution of wealth

 Death Comes Too Soon: Poor,
LGBTQ, and Marginalized

2. Discrimination and marginalization

 Death Comes Too Soon: Poor,
LGBTQ, and Marginalized

3. Negligence and corruption

Human Agency and Responsibility: Death is Not Inevitable
Death is not only a reality and experience in the individual level. Death
is also a societal reality and experience. Thus, taken in this sense, the
death of others heightens our awareness of our responsibility for others.
 Once a wise man was asked,
“What’s the meaning of life?”
He replied, “Life itself has no
meaning. Life is an opportunity
to create meaning.”
THANK
YOU