If I Should Die

by Rouner, Leroy S.

• ISBN13: 9780268031619
• ISBN10: 0268031614
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr

Summary

Despite our constant confrontation with death there has been little serious philosophical reflection on the meaning of death and even less on the classical question of immortality. Popular books on "death and dying" abound, but they are largely manuals for dying with composure, or accounts of individual "near death" experiences.

The contributors to If I Should Die offer compelling personal, philosophical, and historical views on questions about death.

Author Biography

Leroy S. Rouner is Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Philosophical Theology and Director of the Institute for Philosophy and Religion at Boston University

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Contributors	xiii
Introduction	1	(12)
Leroy S. Rouner
PART I: LIFE, DEATH, AND THE CHRISTIAN HOPE
A Short While towards the Sun	13	(26)
Rita Rainsford Rouner
Death and the Believer: The End Is Where We Start From	39	(14)
Peter John Gomes
Is There Life after Death?	53	(18)
Jurgen Moltmann
PART II: DEATH AND IMMORTALITY IN VARIOUS CULTURES
If I Should Die before I Am Awakened: Buddhist Reflections on Death	71	(23)
Malcolm David Eckel
A Rose for the Buddha: In Response to David Eckel	94	(9)
Brian W. Jorgensen
Why People in Stories Choose Mortality When They Could Have Immortality	103	(24)
Wendy Doniger
PART III: THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE AND THE PROBLEM OF IMMORTALITY
The Vague Hope of Immortality	127	(13)
John Lachs
``This Tablet, Which Itself Will Quickly Perish''	140	(15)
Aaron V. Garrett
Metaphorical Immortality: Some Platonic Reflections	155	(15)
David L. Roochnik
The Meanings of Life	170	(19)
David Schmidtz
Author Index	189	(2)
Subject Index	191