著者

鈴木 生郎

出版者

科学基礎論学会

雑誌

科学基礎論研究 (ISSN:00227668)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.39, no.1, pp.13-24, 2011

参考文献数

19

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This paper aims to show that the combination of Three-dimensionalism, a theory of persistence, and Eternalism, a theory about the ontological nature of time, gives us the best solution to a widely known problem of the harm of death. To begin with, we argue that the following two claims are plausible: Termination Thesis, which says that people go out of existence when they die, and Harm after Death Thesis, which says that death harms people at some time after their death. Next we point out that there is an apparent conflict between these claims, as Epicurus and other philosophers argued. Then we show that the combination of Three-dimensionalism and Eternalism enables us to settle the conflict. Finally we show that the combination is preferable to two alternatives which have been discussed in the literature, namely, the combination of Four-dimensionalism and Eternalism (H. Silverstein), and the combination of Three-dimensionalism, Presentism and Meinongianism (P. Yourgrau).