Abstract
“Fatalists” believe we should accept our temporal finitude and not attempt to extend the human life span. “Resistors” believe we should resist our temporal limits and try to extend them. In this chapter, I show that there are serious problems with fatalism as it relies on inaccurate views about old age and aging. However, the debate between fatalists and resistors is not easily settled because it is rooted in what I call the paradox of human finitude: On the one hand, we as human beings are constantly engaged in overcoming or transcending our temporal limits, while on the other hand, without temporal finitude we would not be human.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
See Holm, Chap. 16 in this volume.
- 2.
I am grateful to Claudia Bozzaro for her encouraging comments on an earlier version of this paper.
References
Brindle, D. (2011, March 2). Older people are an asset, not a drain. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/mar/02/older-people-net-contributors-volunteering. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Callahan, D. (1987). Setting limits: Medical goals in an aging society. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Callahan, D. (1998). False hopes: Why America’s quest for perfect health is a recipe for failure. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Callahan, D. (2013, November 30). On dying after your time. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/opinion/sunday/on-dying-after-your-time.html. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Cook, S. L., & Sladowski, P. S. (2013). Volunteering and older adults (Final report). Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Community Development and Partnership Directorate. https://volunteer.ca/vdemo/EngagingVolunteers_DOCS/Volunteering_and_Older_Adults_Final_Report_2013.pdf. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Emanuel, E. (2014, October). Why I hope to die at 75. The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/why-i-hope-to-die-at-75/379329/. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Friedan, B. (1993). The fountain of age. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Gillan, A. (2015, August 1). Not the retiring type: Meet the people still working in their 70s, 80s and 90s. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/01/still-working-aged-in-70s-80s-90s. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Hardwig, J. (2000). Is there a duty to die? And other essays in bioethics. New York: Routledge.
Hauskeller, M. (2011). Is ageing bad for us? Ethics and Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics, 27(1), 25–32.
Hayflick, L. (2002). Anarchy in gerontological terminology. The Gerontologist, 42(3), 416–421.
Kass, L. R. (2001, May). L’chaim and its limits: Why not immortality? First Things. https://www.firstthings.com/article/2001/05/lchaim-and-its-limits-why-not-immortality. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Kass, L. R. (2003, Spring). Ageless bodies, happy souls: Biotechnology and the pursuit of perfection. The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society. http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/ageless-bodies-happy-souls. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Nagel, T. (1979/2010). Death. In S. Brennan & R. J. Stainton (Eds.), Philosophy and death: Introductory readings (pp. 177–184). Peterborough: Broadview Press.
National Institute on Aging. (2015). Growing older in America: The health and retirement study. Chapter 2: Work and retirement. https://www.nia.nih.gov/sites/default/files/2017-06/health_and_retirement_study_0.pdf. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Overall, C. (2003). Aging, death, and human longevity: A philosophical inquiry. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Robineau, D. (2016, February 10). Ageing Britain: Two-fifths of NHS budget is spent on over-65s. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/01/ageing-britain-two-fifths-nhs-budget-spent-over-65s. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Seltzer, J. A., & Yahiron, J. J. (2013). Diversity in old age: The elderly in changing economic and family contexts (California Center for population research. On-Line Working Paper Series). https://s4.ad.brown.edu/Projects/Diversity/Data/Report/report11062013.pdf. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Whitney, C. R. (1997, August 5). Jeanne Calment, world’s elder, dies at 122. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/05/world/jeanne-calment-world-s-elder-dies-at-122.html. Accessed 29 October 2019.
World Bank. (2016). Life expectancy at birth, total (years). http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN. Accessed 29 October 2019.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Overall, C. (2020). The Paradox of Human Finitude: Between Fatalism and Resistance. In: Schweda, M., Coors, M., Bozzaro, C. (eds) Aging and Human Nature. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 25. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25097-3_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25097-3_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25096-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25097-3
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)