Explaining death to my grandchild has offered perspective in a whole new way. It sounds like a dirty trick to think, we don't know when, how, where or even why; all we really know is that it happens. We're not sure when we leave in the morning, that we'll ever make it home again. Will we see that loved one who just walked out the door? As I encounter her questions, I see how we've been sold a bill of goods, accepting the inevitable and trying to make our personal sense of the collective Truth that we're going to die. And I find myself telling her that it's all right. That's the way it's supposed to be. It sounds a little insane, doesn't it? When she says, but I don't want to die, I find myself confronting the same feeling, the same incredulous feeling. Perhaps we're all suffering from PRE-Traumatic Stress, using defense mechanisms such as denial to get through each day. Death is the strangest of all paradigms, don't you think?

. . . it's not about adding years to life, it's about adding life to years.

I DO NOT NEED TIPS ON HOW TO PLAN A WELL DEATH,BUT ON HOW TO PLAN A GOOD LIFE!USE THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS TIPS FOR YOURSELF!

Thanks for a well-written critique on Critchley’s book, “The book of the dead philosophers”. What I got from reading it is the following string of thoughts.

It has all resulted from giving a thinking mind to some animals, or some animals acquiring a thinking mind. The animal in us appears to resist death and wants to live as long as possible, comfortably, as if it is programmed to do so and the human in us wants to know the reason behind this urge to live.

The religions could be accused of providing a false hope of an afterlife, but that accusation in itself calls religion devious at best; for the religion links better afterlife with the so called good deeds. “Life after death” has been discussed in almost all religions, in some cases it takes the form of re-incarnation and in some it becomes an eternal life after death, full of torture or full of pleasure depending upon deeds.

Deeds have often been classified good or bad at the whim of some religious figures that get ratified by folks who follow them and vilified by those who do not. So, it is a confused mess at best. The best example that you have provided, which is a cheap shot, by the way, is in “As Critchley points out, if we delude ourselves about the nature of our deaths (say, by believing that if we martyr ourselves for radical Islam we'll be welcomed into heaven by 72 virgins), we are likely to make a mess of our lives”. The part “martyr ourselves” involves suicide which is strictly forbidden in Islam.

The best reason provided for following Islam was provided by Ali the fourth Caliph of Islam. His line was akin to Socrates’ and he said something like: If you die following (true) teachings of Islam there are two possibilities. You go into oblivion or there is everything that Islam has promised. If you go into oblivion nothing is lost, you lived a (good) life. If on the other hand you see the afterlife, as promised, you will be rewarded. So, perhaps following a decent religion is the best approach.

Finally the philosophers were ordinary humans given to thinking, so why not think for ourselves knowing that death is the end of our physical lives too, so why not make our lives count by leaving examples of good conduct. This leaves me with the suggestion of a Muslim saint who said something like: Know that when you were born you were crying and others were happy, so make sure that when you die you are smiling and others are sad at losing you. The good thing about this advice is that you do not have to be a Muslim to follow it.

Muhammad Zafrullah

All creature struggle their life time to survive in any condition.No one want death, but death is part and parcel of our life. No doubt death is horrible but immortality is more horrible.

We all want immortality,though it is meaningless, Oldest people those who are on deathbed they also want live without any motive.

This is a real life` s comedy,and this suggest that death give us meaning for living

I really like Laura Miller writing, but I do have one small complaint. Looking through the book reviews for the past couple of months, I have not been able to find one review of a fun, entertaining and frivolous book.

The movie and A&E reviews on the other hand feature tons of fun and entertaining shows and movies.

For too many people books are associated with boring "high literature" and edifying non-fiction.

How about some fun books for those of us who just want to relax after a stressful day at work, but without turning their brain to mush in front of the tube.

"I don't want to become immortal through my work. I want to become immortal by not dying."

Why have we forgotten a brainiac like Cicero and laud a barbaric man like Caesar...Two millenium from now will our spawn say that Stalin, Mao or Hitler were great men?

When I was young I did eagerly frequent

Doctor and Saint and heard great argument

About It and about, but evermore

Came out the same Door wherein I went.

From The Rubaiyat

OR

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

-30-

I think there's something wrong in the approach that we fear death because we long for immortality, and that since we can no longer feel after death, we should have no qualms. This is a selfish view of things, I must say.

It is not my death itself that gives me pause, but the pain it will cause those who love me. I may be incapable of mourning my own demise, but I know my wife will grieve. I'm capable of empathy because I know what loss feels like. Each of us has experienced the pain of losing a loved one. Nobody should be cavalier about the pain their own death will inflict upon those who cherish their life. And it is not vain to think this, but rather a recognition that one is blessed with someone or more that will in fact grieve your departure.