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The paradox of human finitude
between fatalism and resistance
pp. 161-169
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.
Publication details
Published in:
Schweda Mark, Coors Michael, Bozzaro Claudia (2020) Aging and human nature: perspectives from philosophical, theological, and historical anthropology. Dordrecht, Springer.
Pages: 161-169
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-25097-3_11
Full citation:
Overall Christine (2020) „The paradox of human finitude: between fatalism and resistance“, In: M. Schweda, M. Coors & C. Bozzaro (eds.), Aging and human nature, Dordrecht, Springer, 161–169.