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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