#25 What exactly is so bad about death?

We think that death is bad, but why exactly is it bad? We cannot suffer when we do not exist, so why would it be bad?

In this episode we have a long, deep conversation with Professor Travis Timmerman, whose philosophical work delves deeply into the nature and ethics of death. An Associate Professor at Seton Hall University, Professor Timmerman has become a prominent voice in contemporary discussions about whether death is bad for us, how we should understand the harm of dying, and what moral obligations we might have surrounding death and dying. His work engages both timeless questions and urgent contemporary debates—offering fresh insight into topics like the timing of death’s harms, the ethics of procreation, and our attitudes toward mortality.

What you'll learn in this episode:

✅ Why death is bad

✅ How it can bad to not have been born earlier

✅ What the ancient Mirror Argument gets wrong

✅ How it can be bad for a 95-year-old to die

✅ Whether we should wait to have children

✅ How an analytical philosopher thinks about death

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--CHAPTERS--

00:00 introduction

00:50 Why is death bad? The Deprivation account

15:30 Lucretius

18:10 A reason to live is a reason to see death as bad

20:20 James Stacey Taylor vs Travis Timmerman

26:20 Deprivation account and mercy killing

29:20 Counter intuitive implications of the Deprivation Account - overdetermination of death

37:20 What would have happened if I had not died? Possible worlds and the badness of death

40:40 The badness of a 95-year-old to die

47:00 Thomas Nagel - death and normalcy

51:49 Reasons and the good and the bad

53:40 The Timmerman style of analytic philosophy

01:00:49 Philosophers and prolongevity in history

01:08:28 Philosophy as therapy

01:09:40 Time and intrinsic good - what matters most?

01:14:36 Is health overrated?

01:16:27 The eternal philosophical dialogue

01:17:56 If longevity were impossible, how would that change philosophy of death?

01:21:35 The Mirror Argument

01:26:55 Could I have been born earlier?

01:39:22 When should we have children?

01:42:47 Better never to have been?

01:48:09 A world without consciousness

01:52:27 Can we wish for the impossible?

02:02:07 Meta-philosophy and ironing out the wrinkles of the Deprivation account

02:03:00 What Travis is working on

02:08:02 What what we should read

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Get all LEVITY DeSci content here: reachlevity.com/t/desci (sorry about the wrong link in the episode)

📕 Check out Patrick's book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262543163/the-case-against-death/

📗 Check out Peter's book (only available in Swedish): https://www.adlibris.com/sv/bok/evigt-ung-min-och-manniskans-drom-om-ododligheten-9789179652524

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Show notes for this episode will be available soon after this airs. Sign up for the LEVITY newsletter to get them straight to your inbox: reachlevity.com/subscribe

LEVITY is co-hosted by Patrick Linden, philosopher and author, and Peter Ottsjö, journalist and author.

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