Recently I discovered that I have contracted a terminal and incurable disease; the doctors have told me that I can live a pain-free, active life the only catch is that I will die in exactly one year.
Before I was diagnosed with this incurable disease I had never contemplated life much less thought about what would happen to me after death but now these thoughts have consumed my mind. Luckily, two of my closest and dearest friends are Socrates and Epicurus.Socrates and Epicurus are philosophers who have spent their lives pondering everything around them therefore, I only see fit to call them and ask for advice on how I should live my last year on earth. Socrates is a firm believer in moral realism; moral realism means to follow what God commands because it is the thing to do. He told me to obey the laws government and religion set forth provided they were just. In order to live my last year in a moral manner Socrates said, “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have”.
In other words Socrates wants me to be content with my situation and understand that I cannot be happy if my situation were reversed unless I am content now. Socrates told me that I must accept my faith and not cling to life artificially. According to him I should not commit suicide because I would be interfering with fate. The main advice Socrates emphasized was to never stop learning. He said, “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel”, which in simpler terms means to continue expanding my horizons and of those other around me.
Education can be used an instrument of power because the wise man knows he knows nothing at all so why not keep learning. Education has way proving things around us are real but at the same time has way of disproving things. Then Socrates said to remember that it is wrong to do an injustice even in return for an injustice. That means that I must always let fate catch up to others.
When I asked Socrates what happens at death he responded that at the time of death our soul separates from the body. He believes the soul is the thing that makes the body alive , so the soul cannot possibly die.One of his arguments is that since opposites come from each other, and death and life are opposites, then death comes from life, so then life follows death. Socrates as usual ends the conversation by telling me that even if I try to abide by his advice I should not change how I have been living my life. After the conversation I had with Socrates I still felt a bit confused with the advice he gave me so I decided to call Epicurus to see what advice he might have some advice on how I should live my last year on earth.Not surprisingly Epicurus went on and on about atoms for almost two hours he kept saying that atoms are everywhere and atoms must have a swerve in order to create molecules.
I thought all this atom talk was simply gibberish until he explained that if it weren’t for the swerve in atoms there would be no free will. He said the determinism of the physicists would explain random events. Epicurus believes all good and evil lie in sensations. He says that since all good and evil lie in sensations then we should not fear death.
Death is the end of all sensations because when you die sensations seize, and when sensations seize so does good and evil. According to him the body’s atoms plus the souls atoms equal sensations so death is not something to fear because you don’t feel anything. He told me not to worry about what I have done in my past because all my past indiscretions will not matter when I die. Epicurus advised me to live a life of pleasure because no pleasure is in itself evil, but the things which produce certain pleasures entail annoyances many times greater than the pleasures themselves.
He said if indulging in certain pleasures is going to bring about more problems than the pleasure is worth then the pleasure is not worth indulging in. In order for me to live this last year as a healthy and happy person I must live it plainly and simply. He encourages me to procure wisdom and happiness through friends and pleasures. According to Epicurus life is a plain and simple as that, have friends, indulge in pleasures as long as the consequence does not include pain and not worry about what the Gods believe.
After all why care about the Gods if they certainly do not care about you.After hanging up with both Socrates and Epicurus I was left a little puzzled. Should I choose to follow Socrates’ advice and live a pious and virtuous life or should I follow Epicurus’ advice and indulge my pleasures? If I listen to Socrates’ advice I know that I must be aware that I have a soul and when I die my soul will continue to an afterlife. Epicurus states the opposite as being true he says that when I die I just die. Both of my friends have given me their views and ideas as to how I should live my last year on Earth now the final choice on how to live my ideal life is up to me.
