What is the meaning of death? It is the unequivocal and permanent end of our existence. Most people unconsciously repress the idea of their death, as it is too horrifying a notion to think about.  Some are perhaps not so horrified of the idea of death, but rather the pain associated before one’s death, or the death of loved ones. 

We live entirely unique lives with complete different experiences, but we all share one common fate: Death. This is what links all of us together. Death smiles at us all and all we can do is smile back.  

In this episode we will analyse death philosophically and psychologically: if it is undesirable, if it is to be feared and the misconceptions around the notion of death. Starting with the terror of death with Becker’s The Denial of Death and how to confront one’s mortality with the Stoic Memento Mori and Nietzsche’s Free Death “dying at the right time”.  

We’ll then discuss the Death of Socrates “the unexamined life is not worth living” and Carl Jung’s notions of Life and Death along with his near death experience.

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📚 Recommended Reading

▶ The Denial of Death - Ernest Becker

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▶ Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

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▶ Discourses and Selected Writings - Epictetus

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▶ Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche

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▶ Memories, Dreams, Reflections – Carl Jung

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⌛ Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

0:35 Is Death Undesirable?

2:08 Should We Fear Death?

4:40 Ernest Becker: The Denial of Death

8:40 Stoicism: Memento Mori

10:00 Nietzsche: On Free Death

12:08 The Death of Socrates

14:06 Carl Jung: Life and Death