365 Days Of Philosophy

Analyse the following debate and identify how well the debate unfolds — are there any fallacies involved, and what are they? BORIS: It’s silly to think of dying as the end of ourselves; we have memories, we have mementos, we have long-lasting influence on the environment. To call death an end is just scaring people and it’s irresponsible. DORIS: But you cannot deny that we have a fear of death, it’s the ‘great unknown’ as it’s called. What about all the things you’d miss if you died today and you knew you were getting married tomorrow? No person who was truly living their life would ever consider the end of life being something so easily dismissed. BORIS: Honestly, I think you’re being very narrow-minded — we have an eternal soul, we have the potential for passing on our genes and we already know what happens to our bodies. We can even donate our body parts to help other people! You’re just the kind of irresponsible fear-creator that we should ignore. DORIS: Putting aside the insults, what evidence do you