Is Death Natural?

Is death natural?  It would seem that there is very little that is obviously more natural than death.  Every living being we perceive in this world comes into being, lives, and dies.  So why even ask the question?  I ask the question because we do not act as if death is natural.  In some ways we act as if death is unnatural.  It seems to me that if death is one of the obviously natural events in the existence of a living being, then the way that many living beings react to the prospect of death is strange.  Likewise, if death is simply a natural part of living; then why do we not welcome it, embrace it, cheer when a loved one's life ends?  I suppose there are a number of reasons why we do not embrace death and look forward to it.  Nonetheless, given the way we actually do, in most cases,seek to avoid death and become sad when our loved ones die...Is death natural?

It will be helpful if we come to a better understanding of the terms 'death' and 'natural.'  We will begin with 'death'.  For now let's limit our analysis to human death.  What is human death?  There are basically two perspectives on human death: the perspective of the objective observer and the perspective of the subjective participant.

For the objective observer, death occurs to subject S when S no longer appears in the phenomenal world (i.e. the world of experience). But what of the body of the dead?  Is a dead body not an appearance in the phenomenal world?  Yes, but we do not normally identify S with the dead body of S.  There is something significantly different between Henry and Henry's dead body.  Simply put, Henry is not there. One day Henry is working, talking, eating, loving his family, and so on.  The next day there lies the body that looks a lot like Henry, but everyone knows that body is not Henry.  Henry, as he is known, is no longer perceived in the world of experience.  This is not to assume that Henry is somewhere else.  He may be, he may not be.  Where Henry may or may not now be does not change the fact that, from the perspective of the objective observer, Henry is no longer appearing in the phenomenal world.  Death from the perspective of the observer is pretty clear cut...S is no longer here.

For the subjective participant, death is not so easily grasped.  It is not all that helpful for the subjective participant that, in most cases, she has also been an objective observer of death.  I do not understand my death any better by simply observing the death of others.  I can safely say, I believe, that when I die I will cease to appear in the phenomenal world.  But, I do not know that I will not be in the phenomenal world.  Simply put, I do not know one thing about death except that when others die, they cease to appear in the phenomenal world.  Do they go somewhere else?  Do they cease to exist?  I simply have no answer for these questions, based on my experience.

I suppose I could say that there is no reality other than the phenomenal world.  In this case, then it is clear that when humans die they cease to exist.  But why should I believe that there is no reality other than the phenomenal world?  Upon what would I base such an assertion?  Is my experience enough to say one way or the other?  Isn't it arrogant to assume that reality is limited to what is experienced?  These questions are interesting, but they may be leading us off course.

So it seems most of what we can say about human death is what we observe in the deaths of others.  There is precious little that we can say about our own death, except for what we experience in the deaths of others.  They are here, and then they are gone.  Other than this, we can also say that human death is a brute fact of human life.  Moreover, we can say that death is a brute fact of all forms of life.  If something lives, it will die.  If something died, it must have lived.  The two assertions go hand in hand.  This brings us to the 'natural' part of death.

What do we mean by 'natural'?  Working with what we already have we might say that an event is natural if it exhibits cause/effect appropriateness in relation to the phenomenal world.  What is cause/effect appropriateness?  Some examples will help.  An apple tree that produces apples is exhibiting cause/effect appropriateness in relation to the phenomenal world.  An apple tree that produces oranges is not.  If I throw a brick off of my roof and it falls, hitting the ground, then the dropping brick has exhibited cause/effect appropriateness in relation to the phenomenal world.  If I drop the brick and it goes up, up, up until it disappears never to return...then no.  Events exhibit cause/effect appropriateness when they occur as we expect them to given our experience in this phenomenal world.  With this definition of 'natural' we can see that death seems to be an event that exhibits cause/effect appropriateness...death seems natural.

Since time immemorial humans have understood that life is a process of generation/decay.  Life comes into being, grows, hangs around awhile, and then dies.  Nothing seems more evidently natural than death.  Why, then, do we act as if it is something unexpected, out of order, unnatural?  If we know that death is simply part of the process, why do we avoid it?  Why do we not embrace it for what it is...?

Epictetus seemed to embrace a rather natural understanding of death, "And after you have received all, and even your very self, from God, are you angry with the giver, and do you complain, if he takes anything away from you? Who are you; and for what purpose did you come? Was it not he who brought you here? Was it not he who showed you the light? Has not he given you companions? Has he not given you senses? Has he not given you reason? And as whom did he bring you here-was it not as a mortal?...Go away. Depart like a grateful and modest person; make room for others. Others, too, must be born as you were; and when they are born must have a place, and habitations, and necessaries. But if the first do not give way, what room is there left? Why are you insatiable, never satisfied? Why do you crowd the world?" (Discourses 4.1.103-106).

Notice Epictetus points to all the things that should make death appear obviously natural: companions (i.e. they die), senses, and reason.  He comes right out and asks in so many words, "Do you not know you are mortal?"  Yet, as he observes, we cling and strive to life...even when it gets in the way of the life of others.

Notice also that Epictetus draws out a consequence of never ending life in the phenomenal world...no room. This is a very practical reason for death in this world. Imagine if every plant, animal, and human that ever lived were still alive.  There would be no room left in this world.  But is Epictetus' approach to death natural?  I am not sure, but maybe it is not.  I believe we naturally treat death as if it is not natural.  When we see people who treat death as if it is just another simple aspect of life...we may find them strange, unfeeling maybe, insensitive, even wrong.  It may be that to treat death as if it is unnatural exhibits cause/effect appropriateness in relation to the phenomenal world.  I am not sure.

I do believe that some Christian traditions can shed light on the dark topic of death.  In short, we are not created to die.  We are created to live.  It may be that our apprehension and fear of death, despite it obvious naturalness, is a sign of the primordial Divine intention that we live.

The tradition of creation ex nihilo ('out of nothing') has aided me in my thinking on death. Anything created out of nothing, if left to itself, will tend towards nothing. Without some 'outside' assistance, the end will resemble the beginning.  I experience this every day.  I must seek sustenance from outside myself in order to live...food, water, rest, etc.  Unfortunately, it seems, these forms of sustenance are only temporary.

What type of sustaining must we have in order to last forever, in order to not-die?  It is at this point that the ancient Christian tradition of theosis has also been very helpful in my understanding of death (and life).  The tradition basically goes like this: God became human so that humans might become like God.  There are a number of ways that we 'might become like God.'  But one way is that we come-to resemble Eternal Life by becoming participants in everlasting life.  What must we do in order to participate in unending life?  There is nothing we can do...on our own.  Left on our own we tend towards nothing.  Even so, God (i.e. Life Itself) has participated in birth-life-death so that we might participate in Life Itself.  In short, the birth-life-death-resurrection of Christ allows us to pass from death to everlasting life.

Is death natural?  I am not sure.  But it does seem that "...the whole creation has been groaning...and not only creation, but we ourselves...groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies" (Rom. 8:22-23).