Death, that “undiscovered country from
whose bourne no traveler returns,” must therefore be an “object of ignorance” par
excellence; and yet, it has from time to time figured in philosophical discussions
from the Greeks to the existentialists. Describe Socrates’ attitude toward death.
Does Socrates know what death is? What two possibilities does he suggest? What
does Socrates say about death as a penalty? Is death an object of knowledge, or
an object of ignorance? If death can be an object of knowledge, can Locke possibly
be right that source of our knowledge is experience? Discuss the relation among
death, fear, self-awareness and power in Hegel’s dialectic of lordship and bondage.
