Aeon editor Sam Dresser offers the Epicurean perspective on life in relation to mortality: Key points – How to not fear your death * The end of your existence is inevitable. The question is whether or not you should fear it.* Epicurus, and many others besides, have argued that there are reasons not to fear … Read more“How to not fear your death”
The Shadow Dance is an elaboration of the memento mori ergo carpe diem mudra into a whole-body exercise. The original dance was a spontaneous creation of mine during a visit to the Rotokawau/Virginia Lake Reserve in Whanganui, New Zealand, sometime in the early 1990s. My then-girlfriend was a dancer much inspired by nature and although … Read moreShadow Dancing: an Exercise in Shifting Perspectives
Professor Catherine Wilson offers a concise argument in favor of the Epicurean perspective: Rightly understood, philosophical Epicureanism is a politically and personally powerful world-view that belies its caricatures. Its key elements are an unflinching refusal to believe that spiritual entities designed, created or control the world combined with the conviction that death and irreversible decomposition … Read more“Why Epicureanism, not Stoicism, is the philosophy we need right now”
Neuroscientist David J. Linden writes in his new piece for The Atlantic: And because our brains are organized to predict the near future, it presupposes that there will, in fact, be a near future. In this way, our brains are hardwired to prevent us from imagining the totality of death. If I am allowed to speculate—and I hold … Read more“A Neuroscientist Prepares for Death”
I spotted this hitherto-unnoticed detail during our annual (ritual) holiday season viewing of the classic It’s a Wonderful Life. The ornate skull on the evil Mr. Potter’s desk is a nice piece of sinister foreshadowing, but – curiosity piqued – it took some detective work to identify the actual prop, which is an antique death’s … Read moreSo, About That Skull on Mr. Potter’s Desk in “It’s a Wonderful Life” …