Topic > Analysis of Epicurus' Death Argument - 1169

Eating candy is a very pleasant experience at first. It is intrinsically good, but will cause severe pain later. Eating candy will lead to subsequent pain, so eating candy is extrinsically harmful. So it is clear that something can be both intrinsically good and extrinsically bad at the same time. This distinction concerns the Epicurean argument. It is logical and correct for an individual to believe that because being dead in itself is not a painful experience, death is not inherently bad. But the problem arises when it comes to extrinsic badness. To imply that pain and evil are related in death, as Epicurus does, is a problem. There are many extrinsically negative things, such as verbal bullying or the death of a parent, that do not cause physical pain. Therefore, death can be extrinsically bad despite not causing any