20. The value of life, Part II; Other bad aspects of death, Part I

Death (PHIL 176)
Lecture 20 continues the discussion of the value of life. It considers the neutral container theory, which holds that the value of life is simply a function of its contents, both pleasant and painful, and contrasts this with the valuable container theory, which assigns value to being alive itself. The lecture then turns to a consideration of some of the other aspects of death that may contribute to the badness of death. Among the issues addressed are the inevitability, variability and unpredictability of death.
00:00 - Chapter 1. What's Missing from the Experience Machine?
05:57 - Chapter 2. The Neutral and Valuable Container Theories: What about Life Is Valuable?
17:05 - Chapter 3. The Fantastic Valuable Container Theory: The Contents Really Matter
26:56 - Chapter 4. Is Deprivation the Only Badness of Death? Consideration of Inevitability
35:16 - Chapter 5. Variability and Unpredictability of Death
43:59 - Chapter 6. Can an Ideal Life Be Planned?
Complete course materials are available at the Yale Online website: online.yale.edu
This course was recorded in Spring 2007.