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Ingemar Patrick Linden
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The Case against Death (Basic Bioethics) Paperback – 1 Feb. 2022

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A philosopher refutes our culturally embedded acceptance of death, arguing instead for the desirability of anti-aging science and radical life extension.

Ingemar Patrick Linden's central claim is that death is evil. In this first comprehensive refutation of the most common arguments in favor of human mortality, he writes passionately in favor of antiaging science and radical life extension. We may be on the cusp of a new human condition where scientists seek to break through the arbitrarily set age limit of human existence to address aging as an illness that can be cured. The book, however, is not about the science and technology of life extension but whether we should want more life. For Linden, the answer is a loud and clear "yes."

The acceptance of death is deeply embedded in our culture. Linden examines the views of major philosophical voices of the past, whom he calls "death's ardent advocates." These include the Buddha, Socrates, Plato, Lucretius, and Montaigne. All have taught what he calls "the Wise View," namely, that we should not fear death. After setting out his case against death, Linden systematically examines each of the accepted arguments for death--that aging and death are natural, that death is harmless, that life is overrated, that living longer would be boring, and that death saves us from overpopulation. He concludes with a "dialogue concerning the badness of human mortality." Though Linden acknowledges that The Case Against Death is a negative polemic, he also defends it as optimistic, in that the badness of death is a function of the goodness of life.

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  1. Print length
    264 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    MIT Press
  4. Publication date
    1 Feb. 2022
  5. Dimensions
    15.24 x 1.68 x 22.86 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0262543168
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0262543163
  8. See all details
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Review

"Very clearly written and completely accessible to any college‐level reader, including those with no background in philosophy. The text is free of needless technicality and full of concrete examples. Readers will have no difficulty seeing the relevance of these issues for their own lives."
--Bioethics

About the Author

Ingemar Patrick Linden taught philosophy at NYU for nearly a decade. He is researching public attitudes to radical life extension.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ MIT Press (1 Feb. 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 264 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262543168
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262543163
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 1.68 x 22.86 cm
  • Customer reviews:

About the author

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Ingemar Patrick Linden

Ingemar Patrick Linden

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Driven by a passion to probe the fundamental questions we are confronted with, Dr. INGEMAR PATRICK LINDEN has been on a journey of discovery taking him from Lund University in Sweden, to UCL in London, to University of California, to New York, where he has taught philosophy for almost a decade. One of the ideas that has remained a firm conviction of the author’s since childhood is that we do not have enough time. We are but the beginnings of complete humans, fragments of what we could be. It was the realization that not all share this view, in fact, surveys show that most do not, that inspired, and necessitated, the writing of THE CASE AGAINST DEATH.

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adamgries
5.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate case why it's not only wrong, but immoral, to accept death.
Reviewed in the United States on 19 December 2023
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The Case Against Death is seminal book for anybody aiming to live an ethical life, full of longevity and health.

For context, humanity has hitherto resorted to sophisticated coping strategies to deal with aging and death, given an understandable sense of powerlessness to impact them.

Perhaps most nefariously, what Patrick Linden ironically calls the "Wise View" has entrenched itself as the dominant philosophy governing humanity's treatment of aging and death.

The "Wise View" states that either death is not bad, not very bad, or not something we can impact and therefore best accepted (a type of learned helplessness).

Linden exposes the corruption essential to this philosophy, which fundamentally devalues life. Steeped in historical and philosophical context, he methodically shows why the arguments justifying death are weak and in principle unethical.

Now, saying death is unethical may seem trivial to some, but is in fact groundbreaking.

It is a scathing indictment of the current powers that be, and therefore an inescapable call to action.

Because it necessarily means that the government, the NIH, big pharma, and countless other organizations and individuals are not merely ineffective, but rather acting *immorally*.

They may not mean harm, but the underlying philosophy they operate within is likely to promote it.

By providing historical context, a toolkit for debate, and an ironclad ethical argument, Linden has set a keystone for the longevity revolution.

As we progress in the fight against aging & death, I predict Linden's work will be core to building the new ethics & common fictions we need.
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