Philosophy Roundtable: Should you fear Death?

This week, we will be discussing death, dying and the afterlife. We will draw on our own perspectives, as well as various philosophical takes, religious traditions and other spiritual views on the topic.

“Death is nothing to us.” Epicurus

We will be meeting at the Captain Melville, 34 Franklin St in Melbourne CBD at 2:00pm. There is no pre-requisite reading or watching but please find some resources to better prepare yourself in the discussions.

Note these events are a roundtable format, often with vigorous debate, so please come ready to challenge assumptions and have your own assumptions challenged!

Some points and questions to consider before the event:

• Is death best understood as an end, a transition, or a transformation, and why?
• How does Socrates’ view of death as a potential good (in Plato’s Phaedo) challenge or align with modern attitudes toward mortality?
• Freud's "death instinct" called 'Thanatos' contrasts with the life instinct 'Eros'; Freud proposed we have an unconscious drive toward death and destruction, seeking a return to an inorganic state. Discuss.
• Can Freud’s concept of the death instinct (Thanatos) explain self-destructive behaviors in individuals or societies today?
• Jung saw death not as an end but as a culmination of the individuation process—the journey toward psychological wholeness. Discuss.
• How does Jung’s idea of death as a culmination of individuation influence our approach to living a meaningful life?
• Is the fear of death universal, or is it culturally constructed, as Jung suggested in “The Soul and Death”?
• Epicurius taught that death, as the cessation of sensation, is nothing to fear, as “when we are, death is not; when death is, we are not”. Discuss.
• What is the Hindu belief on Samsara, Karma and Reincarnation?
• What do Christians, Jews and Muslims believe about death and the afterlife?
• Should we, as Montaigne argued, “learn to die” to live more fully? What practices might this entail?
• Can Heidegger’s “Being-toward-death” in Being and Time provide a framework for living authentically in the face of mortality?
• How do religious beliefs about an afterlife (e.g., in Hinduism or Christianity) shape ethical behavior in life?
• Do we ever fully die, if our life's actions echo throughout the ages?
• Is consciousness confined to the physical body?

Hope to see you there!