Pluralism and the “Good” Death
Pluralism and the “Good” Death
Stephen Latham addresses the question of whether plural approaches to death are merely relative. He begins with the notion that, over time and across cultures, humans have conceived of many different types of death as “good.” He then analyzes this plurality of types of death by drawing from the German philosopher Nicolai Hartmann’s work on the hierarchy of values. The achievement of high values—such as universal love or artistic beauty—is praiseworthy. It is a great wrong to deprive a person of strong values such as those of health and life. By giving consideration to strong values but reaching for high values—even in dying—Latham shows that a good death is not simply relative.
Keywords: Pluralism, Value theory, Nicolai Hartmann, Hierarchy of values, Good death
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