title: On the alleged ineffability of death.
abstract: A number of recent theorists, all proceeding on the assumption that there is no afterlife, argue that the notion of one's own death defies comprehension in ways that have important implications. Some argue this "ineffability" of death precludes a rational decision to die. Dr. Edwin Shneidman maintains that it makes the notion of our own death unintelligible to each of us. In this paper, these arguments are criticized. It is maintained that death is not so inscrutible as these theorists would have us believe.
mesh_terms: D001293:Attitude to Death; D006801:Humans; D010684:Philosophy; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*