Simon Critchley: To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die

Sorry Me again, John Donne 1624, Death be not so proud,though some have called thee mighty and dreadfull, For, though art not soe. look it up it gives you courage to face death.

Another spontaneous thought, meditation is what gets one ready for death. Through years of meditation one is capable of anticipating ones own death. By monitoring your vital sighns through meditation one recognizes the process, example, loss of sight, loss of hearing, feeling, the stages can be anticipated in meditative trances. Your demise comes at the deep meditative moments and their is no fear, panic or uncertainty, your journey has now begun. Death can be a friend if welcomed. Great discussion, remember in brave new world Huxley wrote about lessons on death in elementary school and continues through out ones education. Yes we can laugh, in hope we laugh the last laugh. Huxley asked to be injected with LSD at his death bed. Thank You Fora tv, and thanks Simon.

yOU WERE BORN TO DIE, THE SECOND YOU WERE BORN IS THE SAME SECOND YOU BEGIN TO DIE. tHIS GIFT OF THOUGHT was gifted to me in a Library where I read the Tibetian book of the dead, I was 15 years old. Next I learned at 22 that Carl Jung and Aldous Huxley kept the book at their side the last 3 years of their life, CJung wrote an extensive essay praising Tibetian book of the dead by W.Y.Evans-Wentz 1927. 20 years later I ran into Maharaj Charan Singh who wrote Die to Live written 1979. So went back and read Tibetian book of the dead. Then in 1992 I ran across a book in a used book store in Puerto Moralis Mexico, called Tibetian Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoiche. All that did was make me go back to the original by Evans-Wentz. Aristotle was paid to be the teacher of Alexander the Great! However now at 61 years old reading again The Tibetian Book of The Dead. Frued died of nose anhd throat cancer from smoking cigars, how smart was that? I always ask or research great thinkers how they die tells me all! Tells me how they lived! Autopsies tells all.

this kind of topic should be taken seriously and pursued more. It is truly nonsense, in my opinion, to see dying people suffer long and all there loved ones being traumatized by the very miserable sight where in fact we could end all these miseries and avoid the trauma that will haunt the bereaved in days to come. we should look again on this issue and visit those rationales that make us hesitant to do what is good, necessary and humane.

Fascinating lecture. As to suicide, IMO people do indeed have the right to kill themselves. To own ones own life means to have the right to end it. But that being said, when someone mourns the death of a loved one, they are mourning the loss of their loved ones in their lives, but also mourning the partial death of themselves. It's fair to say that, psychologically, part of them has died, and they must take time to heal and learn to live again. I suspect that this is a major part of the western view of suicide and the typical anger from the survivors. Not only has the person killed themselves, but they've murdered part of those who survive their deaths, and anger ensues from being, not only violated and betrayed in such a way, but also from the obvious loss of life itself. LOGOS

I lived with death daily for many years... Healing from a death diagnosis after many years of daily pain taught me many things. In fact, having trained a Energy Form of Martial Arts and having many esoteric experiences from my many trainings has shown me unexplainable things. Clairvoyance has tripled by 10. Energy is Energy. I too thought in no after life on occasion, but when I was young I saw angles, demons and spirit friends daily. Today as a adult I connect with them daily. The power first reawakened during cancer concerns and was associated with tremendous vitality and deepest of dreams...as if they were more real than regular daily life. I saw things in advance and got message from 1/2 way across the world clearly. To me these experiences inform me to Great Energy & Information via invisible senses. With these invisible sense I worry for death only when I am not being fully awake, present or when I am lazy of just in a older habit that has yet been acknowledged. The author here is giving and a caring fellow. He is a good and possibly great story teller, and obviously a caring and smart researcher. I am happy to have been inspired to buy a 5'11" skeleton for my office to help me to make more marry as the Egyptians. I also agree the thinking of death got me to jump from a airplane and do many things I was prohibited to do via a unworthiness of great proportion. I do however hope this fine young chap goes into a deeper research about pure experience , the law of attraction and that he grows more curious of his own latent physcic skills for then he may "have experience" to speak from beyond the skepticism and strongly opinionated no after life self censorship he is living. Via self experience over a long trial of endeavor by use of esoteric tools will he tap into a stream of vitality that is the future of humanities evolution, that is if we are to live past the terrors of current planetary issues. In summary I am refreshed and re inspired to take up the companionship of death and that too of life & love. As Carl Jung said that one ought to live each and every day as if they have many more century's left of life even in there oldest of ages...to life to a future and thereby secure your proper work in the now...what ever that work may be. {loving, cooking, sleeping or pooping}. May You Enjoy What I Have Written & Comment if YOU CARE TWO Oh, in finality... everyone is very correct in there views here, especial the old woman about morning. In Indonesia folks keep a body in there back room up to 1 year before they bury it, speaking with it, even holding its hand until the time to bury arrives. What a easy way to morn...bit by bit. Also many who are far more advanced than here {fault them not for there level of being} morn not...having mourned already for all of humanity before anyone dies...thus liberated prior to the occasion. { proactive mourning makes good mathematics } "The Sage suffers the symptoms without the disease thereby avoiding it, the commoner suffers the disease without the symptoms thereby getting it" Chinese Wisdom upon dealing with life more proactivly.

What a load of old news.

This is a great talk-thank you for including this. He is filling a void in the present culture...

Excellent excellent stuff.