The Significance of Death for Animals

To address the question of the significance of death for animals, we first need to consider the significance of death for people. On the assumption that death is, at least usually, bad for people, what makes it bad? To get at least a rough idea, let’s contrast a paradigm case of death that appears to be bad for the subject with one that, at least plausibly, isn’t bad. First, consider Yorick. Yorick is twenty-two years old, has just graduated from a prestigious college with high honors, has several promising careers open to him, and is in a fulfilling romantic relationship. While Yorick is out walking one day, a drunk driver swerves onto the sidewalk and kills him. Now, consider Oliver. Oliver is ninety-one, and has lived a rich, fulfilling life. But now Oliver has an incurable terminal illness. As the illness progresses, Oliver is in increasing amounts of pain. There are no available treatments that significantly reduce the pain, without also rendering Oliver unconscious. He has no loose ends in his work or personal life. Oliver judges, and his doctors and family agree, that his remaining life is of such a low quality that it is not worth living. Luckily for him, he lives in a state that permits doctor-assisted suicide. Surrounded by loved ones, Oliver dies a peaceful, painless death. Yorick’s death is clearly bad for him. If any death can be good for the subject, Oliver’s death appears to be. So, what is the most obvious difference between the two deaths? Yorick’s death deprives him of well-being, but Oliver’s death doesn’t deprive him of well-being. On any remotely plausible account of well-being, Yorick’s life would have had more of it, if he hadn’t died when he did. He would have had more pleasurable experiences, more satisfied desires, more exercise of autonomy, more of whatever might appear on an objective list of what makes life go well. Oliver’s life, on the other hand, would not have contained more of any of this. OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRST-PROOF, 08/02/12, NEWGEN