Abstract

In the discussions related to the question of the meaning of life, I hinted that the idea of death would play a crucial role in talk about the potential meaninglessness of life. In this chapter, I elaborate on this premise. First, I provide an overview of what I take to be a general understanding of the concept of death, which considers it as the decline and decay of a biological entity to the point where regeneration is impossible, and an irreversible decay is inevitable. I also consider African notions of death, which view death as a transition event or process of disembodiment in which the human spirit continues to live on in some way. Following this, I then show the implausibility of the idea of disembodiment, arguing that there is nothing more to the human person than her physical components. In this way, I conclude that the finality of death implies nothingness and a deep plunge into meaninglessness. Furthermore, I note that even if disembodiment were a possibility the tedium of immortality still stands to render our lives meaningless.