Steven Luper Boeken

This volume meets the increasing interest in a range of philosophical issues connected with the nature and significance of life and death, and the ethics of killing. What is it to be alive and to die? What is it to be a person? What must time be like if we are to persist? What makes one life better than another? May death or posthumous events harm the dead? The chapters in this volume address these questions, and also discuss topical issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and suicide. They explore the interrelation between the metaphysics, significance, and ethics of life and death, and they discuss the moral significance of killing both people and animals, and the extent to which death harms them. The volume is for all those studying the philosophy of life and death, for readers taking applied ethics courses, and for those studying ethics and metaphysics more generally.

The book explores two contrasting approaches to achieving happiness: the Western method of optimizing desires and the Eastern practice of adapting them. Steven Luper delves into philosophical insights from figures like Buddha and Socrates, arguing that fear of death can be mitigated through adaptation. He outlines practical steps for this transformation while acknowledging its limitations, suggesting that while adapting can enhance resilience against life's challenges, it may also lead to a diminished understanding of true happiness.

Exploring the complex themes surrounding mortality, this book delves into the philosophical and ethical dimensions of death and the act of killing. It presents a lively dialogue that challenges conventional views, encouraging readers to reflect on their beliefs regarding life, death, and moral permissibility. Through thought-provoking arguments and discussions, it invites contemplation on the profound questions that shape our understanding of existence.

Steven Luper explores what persons, species, organisms, and material objects are, and what it is to live and persist. After death or extinction, what could something become? Could it persist in another form? This metaphysical study gets to the heart of the deepest questions about the nature of life.