Is death bad? A dialogue with Socrates — by Dr. Angel Ting, Division of Social Sciences

SOCRATES: Is death bad?

ANGEL: Of course, death is bad! What a silly question, Socrates! If my loved ones pass away, it surely will be very bad for me! I won’t be seeing them forever! I won’t be able to hug them, to talk to them anymore!

SOCRATES: I don’t mean whether the death of your loved ones will be bad for you. There is no question that it will be very bad for you since that means you will lose them forever. It is as if you lose your wealth forever, but even worse than that, as your loved ones are the most valuable things that you have ever had.

ANGEL: Then why do you ask the question?

SOCRATES: What I want to know is, is death bad for the person who died?

ANGEL: What do you mean by ‘the person who died’?

SOCRATES: I mean, for example, if you died, is death bad for you?

ANGEL: How would I know? I have never experienced death.

SOCRATES: So, when will you experience death?

ANGEL: When? After I die, I presume. Since I am alive right now and I am not dead, I cannot experience death, can I?

SOCRATES: Well said! However, after you died, can you still have any experience? I mean, after you died, you will no longer have a body, and without a body, can you still have any experience?

ANGEL: I think, no? Without a body, I cannot experience anything. In fact, without a body, there would be no me!

SOCRATES: If you cannot experience anything, or, if you no longer exist, would death be bad for you?

ANGEL: In that case, it would not be bad for me. In fact, it will not be good for me either since there would be no ‘me’! Death is neither good nor bad for me!¹

SOCRATES: That said, do we always need to experience something to know that it is bad?

ANGEL: Why? Did you not just agree that death is neither good nor bad because I cannot experience it?

SOCRATES: Indeed! However, let us not come to the conclusion so quickly. After all, life which is unexamined is not worth living.² So, let us further examine it! Is it possible that death may still be bad for you after all even if you can’t experience it?

ANGEL: As you wish. But how is it possible for us to know whether something is good or bad without any personal experience? I mean, I cannot know philosophy is so much fun until I study it with you!

SOCRATES: You are quite right. But imagine now that you are discussing philosophy with me, which is something quite pleasant to you, and something that you, in fact, enjoy. What if, because now that you are studying with me, you missed the concert of your favourite violinist, Ray Chen, which is something you surely would prefer more than being stuck with me here. How do you feel now?

ANGEL: I feel bad! I want to go to his concert so badly!

SOCRATES: You see, you don’t need to have any experience of Ray’s concert and you can immediately tell that being stuck with me here is bad! All you need to know is there are better options out there!

ANGEL: You are quite right! That means I do not need to experience death to know that it is bad, all I need to know is, if I don’t die, I will continue to enjoy my life, a better option than death!

SOCRATES: Well done!

ANGEL: But wait, Socrates, if there are better options than ‘death would be bad’, or what if death itself is a better option?

SOCRATES: Can you then tell me what situation would that be?

ANGEL: Yes. For instance, if I were suffering from tremendous pain caused by a terminal illness, and the best way to eliminate the pain is death, in that case, isn’t it true that death is not bad, but, in fact, something good?³

SOCRATES: Well said! That is very true indeed! However, do you believe that suffering is worse than death?

ANGEL: I do not understand, Socrates. Isn’t it true that suffering is so bad that everyone tries to avoid it?

SOCRATES: Indeed, no one would intentionally seek suffering, just like no one would intentionally seek death, unless they are better options. Nonetheless, isn’t there a claim that ‘he who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how?’⁴

ANGEL: Yes, that is a famous saying by Nietzsche in his book Twilight of the Idols. But why does it matter in our discussion?

SOCRATES: Have you also not heard that, during World War II, there were people in the concentration camps who chose to be kind and shared what they had to others even though they were also enduring tremendous suffering and had barely enough to survive?

ANGEL: Yes, I have heard of those people. They demonstrated admirable human qualities in the darkest hour.

SOCRATES: Indeed! Tell me, then, what qualities about them that you find admirable?

ANGEL: I do not know. I mean, if I were them, I would probably have ‘run into the wire’⁵.

SOCRATES: But they did not. Instead, they chose to continue to live and be kind to others.

ANGEL: So true.

SOCRATES: In that case, do you not agree that they are admirable because of the attitude they chose towards life?

ANGEL: But, what attitude did they choose?

SOCRATES: The attitude of not to succumb to unavoidable suffering, but to live in our own way.

ANGEL: I do not understand, Socrates. What choice can people make under such extreme circumstances? Life did not offer anything but enormous suffering to them!

SOCRATES: It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.⁶ It is our response – our autonomous choice – in face of suffering that gives us the meaning and value of life.

ANGEL: What is the response? I do not understand.

SOCRATES: To make sense of the suffering, instead of committing suicide. You can give as many interpretations as possible towards the suffering you have. There is no correct interpretation, for as long as it makes sense to you, it is your choice, your response, your authentic life.⁷

ANGEL: But, again, how does this relate to our discussion of death?

SOCRATES: I am glad that you bring this up! Now, tell me, what enables us to make autonomous choice? I mean, can we still make any choices if we are dead?

ANGEL: No, of course not.

SOCRATES: So, which one is worse, suffering or death?

ANGEL: Death, indubitably, for it deprives us of even the choice to rebel against suffering.

SOCRATES: Thus, death is bad not only because it deprives us of the good things we could have enjoyed, but also because it annihilates us completely, depriving us of even the slightest interest to continue to survive.⁸

ANGEL: That seems to be the case. I cannot agree with you more, Socrates. However, what you say may be true if we only have a body. What if we have a soul, would death still be bad for us?

SOCRATES: If we have a soul besides our physical body, do we still suffer from death?

ANGEL: Well, surely our body will perish. But if our soul continues to live, should we still fear death?

SOCRATES: My dear friend, this fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being the appearance of knowing the unknown; since no one knows whether death, which they in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good. Is there not here conceit of knowledge, which is a disgraceful sort of ignorance?⁹ It is entirely possible that death is as good as a sleep undisturbed even by the sight of dream. Should that be the case, it will be an unspeakable gain, for death is only one single night. On the other hand, if death is a journey of the soul that migrates from one world to another, it could not be better! For I could continue to converse with Palamedes,¹⁰ Ajax¹¹ and Homer!¹² If that be true, let me die again and again.¹³