Death is a motivating factor for several facets of human behavior. It is the subject of human exploration, mainly because it is irreversible, inevitable, and oftentimes devastating. While these aspects of death are certainly true, many desire to push the idea off to some time in the distant future and rather worry about the now. Death appears to be something that we passively accept will happen to us, but put off until some point in the near future. If presented with the opportunity, then, to know the time in which one will pass away, many will be wary to jump at such an opportunity. I argue, however, that if given the opportunity, I would like to know the time of my death. It is, in other words, good to know the day and time of my death rather than remain in ignorance about it.
Knowledge of the end allows me to prepare for it to the best of my ability, as well as to properly put my affairs in order. In other words, it is more useful for me to know than it is for me to not know. To understand this point, we must first understand the conditions we are dealing with. There are two possible ways knowledge about my eventual expiration can go. I either find out that I am going to die sometime in the not-too-soon future, or that I am going to die sometime “too soon.” We are not typically very concerned with the first scenario (until we approach it) because we assume this to be true unless presented with evidence to the contrary. What raises concern is the second scenario, which we fear would cause us emotional distress and existential despair. If presented with the second scenario, a lot of us would wish we were never presented with the information. But I do not believe this indicates whether knowing is good or bad.
We must remember here that an initial hesitance, or even an emotionally negative reaction, does not constitute the badness of something. For example, imagine that a married man has become suspicious of his partner. Perhaps she had been going out during erratic times, and had become very defensive when the man asked her where she was going. If the man’s friend knew that she was, indeed, committing an infidelity with another person, the man would desire for his friend to tell him. He would desire to know even if he may not like the fact that this has happened to him, and that his partner is not faithful to him. He would perhaps be very saddened and angry, both of which are emotions we often try to avoid because they are rather unpleasant. But this knowledge, despite these emotions, would allow him to respond in an appropriate manner, and he would no longer be living under the delusion that his partner is treating him with respect. In other words, our hypothetical man would be able to break up with his partner and recover instead of being with someone who does not totally respect him. He would be able to deal with the information and respond in a manner that befits the situation, rather than allow his partner to continue cheating on him. In the same way, even if the majority of individuals who are told the dates of their death do not like what they find, this does not mean that knowing is, on the aggregate, a bad.
We can now transfer the principle underlying the infidelity example to that which I am positing. If given the ability to know when I was going to die, it would be useful for me to know. Not only would I be able to sort out my wishes for my body after death, I would also be able to express my desire for my remains, and decide whether or not I am going to embrace any form of spirituality or not before my time is up. The days leading up to the finality of one’s life will also serve as a period of self-reflection and wish-fulfillment which would not have otherwise been achieved. Activities that I was too frightened to do when held back by my desire for a longitudinal existence would no longer serve as a detriment to my completing these activities. Activities that were not financially intelligent decisions no longer stop you from doing that which you wish to do, because the not-too-distant future becomes something that you are sure you will not ever be able to experience. And this is very much why it is preferable to know than to not know – knowledge of this gives you freedoms that you otherwise would not have had. It empowers you rather than break you down.
That is, however, if you are not affected by the existential feelings of despair that you may feel on the days leading up to your death. Despair may very well prevent you from acting on any of your desires. However, the sadness and anxiety leading up to my inevitable end can easily be reasoned out and prepared for in advance. Perhaps the greatest concern with knowing the day of your death is the existential anxiety that is inevitably going to surface on the days leading up to it. Yet emotional investment in the self-preservation of oneself can be used to improve one’s quality of life. If I knew I was going to die sooner than the average life expectancy of my demographic, I cannot deny I would be reasonably resentful about my premature death. However, given the time I know I have left, I would attempt to live my life to the fullest extent I could. It would be this emotional investment in my self-preservation that would fuel my enjoyment of life, rather than prevent it. I would no longer be able to take the life I live for granted, but I would live while knowing that the time I have to do so is severely limited. It is only when a resource is scarce that it becomes much more valuable. Basic economic theory indicates that we shall appreciate that of which there is very little supply.
Surely the sadness and anxiety will be rational responses to an unfortunate predicament. No one truly knows what it feels like to transition from life to death, nor can anyone be certain that there is an afterlife. Faced with these great uncertainties, anxiety is a natural response. Rationally, however, one must appreciate that there is nothing one can do to stop his or her inevitable demise. This was bound to happen at some point; it just so happens that this will happen sooner for you than you had originally conceived. It is therefore only rational that you make the most out of the time you have left, because it is all you can reasonably be expected to do to make yourself feel better. This is preferable to ignorance because you can only extract the most amount of enjoyment out of these days if you know that your days are numbered. Remember – you are going to die whether or not you know about it. It would be rather preferable if you were able to come to peace with it on your terms, and enjoy that time you have left, rather than have it take you by surprise.
The strongest possible counterargument one could raise is that there is no rationalization that one could use to satiate the overwhelming sense of despair. This, the argument goes, is substantiated by claims of those who do know when their time on Earth will end. Those with terminal illness, for example, are not elated to know that they are going to die. Those who have genetic disorders (ones in which doctors have indicated, far beyond a reasonable doubt, their lives will end prematurely) are not ecstatic to hear this news. Rather, they often fall into a great depression from which they sometimes don’t fully recover. As the argument goes, this is from the knowledge that the death is inevitable and the individual knows the date of his or her death. Limited resources are valued more but only when they are not as personal as life.
To refute this claim, we must establish the fundamental distinction between emotional responses and rational emotional responses. We have been conditioned to believe that death is bad for us, and this problem seems to be rather unsolved. Because emotions are often responses to conditioning, it would make sense that our initial emotional response would be that of despair. But the purpose of near-death therapy (and other forms of therapy for the terminally ill) is so that those who are nearing the end can come to terms with it. This form of therapy would not exist, therefore, if it could not be rationalized that death is an inevitability with which one can come to terms.
Just as well, it is also important not to conflate existential distress with goodness or badness, as I had before described. This element of my argument is much more important than simple semantics. I highlighted earlier how existential distress is certainly conditioned, but that while suffering/sadness is usually bad, the goodness or badness of knowing does not come from the emotions that it derives. Instead, it comes from the freedoms that knowing would grant you. Freedom from financial insecurity, from worrying about the future, and so on, all accompany this knowledge of a not-too-distant inevitable demise. And even if this knowledge is antithetical to the life-plans you have mapped out (for example, if your death shall happen before you graduate from college and receive your degree, as in the tragic case we discussed in class), knowing will allow you to act accordingly and appropriately, even though you are going to feel upset about the perceived injustice you are experiencing. This objection to my arguments, therefore, fails to refute the goodness of knowing versus not-knowing.
I would much prefer to know the date and time of my death, rather than remain in the dark about it. I may not like what I find, but it is always preferable to know than to not know. Because the goodness of knowing about the time of my death does not come from the content of the knowledge itself, but from what the knowledge enables me to do after I possess it. I am severely limited in my freedoms if I do not have the knowledge to act in the most appropriate way given my circumstances. This freedom is a clear and distinct good because it enables me to act autonomously.
