{"id":39177,"date":"2020-03-14T07:17:16","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T14:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=39177"},"modified":"2020-03-14T07:17:16","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T14:17:16","slug":"everyday-erinyes-208","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2020\/03\/14\/everyday-erinyes-208\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyday Erinyes #208"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto<\/span><\/strong>, Megaera<\/span><\/strong>, and Tisiphone<\/strong><\/span>. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”<\/p>\n

So, back to history one more time. This period – the first century CE – is even closer to their youth than the Middle Ages. But human nature really doesn’t change. Our understanding of it, of course, may change. But the behavior of humans in large groups was and remains predictable.
\n==================================================================<\/p>\n

Why a Roman philosopher’s views on the fear of death matter as coronavirus spreads<\/h1>\n
Lucretius Carus.
\nInternet Archive Book Images\/Flickr<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thomas Nail<\/a>, University of Denver<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

With the global spread of the new coronavirus, fears about illness and death<\/a> weigh heavily on the minds of many.<\/p>\n

Such fears can often result in a disregard for the welfare of others. All over the world, for example, essential items such as toilet paper and hand sanitizer have been sold out<\/a>, with many people stockpiling them.<\/p>\n

A first-century B.C. Roman poet and philosopher, Lucretius was worried that our fear of death could lead to irrational beliefs and actions that could harm society. As a philosopher<\/a> who has just published a book<\/a> on Lucretius\u2019 ethical theory, I cannot help but notice how his predictions have come true.<\/p>\n

Lucretius and his beliefs<\/h2>\n

Lucretius was a materialist who did not believe in gods or souls. He thought that all of nature was made of continually changing matter.<\/p>\n

Since nothing in nature is static, everything eventually passes away. Death, for Lucretius, allowed for new life to emerge from the old.<\/p>\n

When there is no immediate danger of dying, people are less afraid of death, Lucretius says in \u201cThe Nature of Things<\/a>.\u201d But when illness or danger strike, people get scared and begin to think of what comes after death.<\/p>\n

Some people might make themselves feel better by imagining that they have immaterial souls that shed their bodies or that there is a benevolent God, Lucretius writes. Others might imagine an eternal afterlife, as the philosopher Todd May<\/a> argues in his 2014 book, \u201cDeath<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fear of death may lead people to seek comfort in the idea that there is an immortal soul that is more important than the body and the material world.<\/p>\n

Fear and social divisions<\/h2>\n

However, an ethical danger of such beliefs, Lucretius argues<\/a>, is that people may become preoccupied with something that literally does not matter at all.<\/p>\n

This fear and anxiety, Lucretius says, stains everything in life. It \u201cleaves no pleasure clear and pure\u201d and it could even lead to \u201ca great hatred of life.\u201d Studies show that anxiety about death can lower one\u2019s immune system and make it more vulnerable<\/a> to infections.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Lucretius says, the fear of death can also lead people to create social divisions. When people are afraid of dying, they might think that withdrawing from others will help keep danger, disease and death away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why people, attacked by false fears, desire to escape far away and to withdraw themselves,\u201d Lucretius says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon is well documented in terror management studies<\/a>. The fear of death results in a desire to escape from disadvantaged groups.<\/p>\n

In China, for example, rural migrant workers were blocked<\/a> from quarantined cities, kicked out of apartments and turned away by factory owners, as authorities tried to control the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A sign on a grocery store in Kirkland, Washington, says all hand sanitizer products have been sold out.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Ted S. Warren, File<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the U.S., poorer workers do not have the luxury<\/a> to work from home when schools close, and cannot afford to take sick days or see a doctor. They are thus more vulnerable<\/a> compared to those who can afford to isolate themselves.<\/p>\n

Asian Americans are also experiencing increased discrimination<\/a> following the coronavirus spread. Fewer people are going to Chinese restaurants out of fear of being infected. Asian American schoolchildren too have been targets of racist comments.<\/p>\n

Focus on staying healthy<\/h2>\n

The fear of death is irrational, according to Lucretius, because once people die they will not be sad, judged by gods or pity their family; they will not be anything at all. \u201cDeath is nothing to us,\u201d he says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not fearing death is easier said than done. That is why, for Lucretius, it is the most important ethical challenge of our life.<\/p>\n

Instead of worrying about what may happen after death, Lucretius advises people to focus on keeping their bodies healthy and helping others do the same.<\/p>\n

[Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today\u2019s news, every day.<\/a><\/em>]\"The<\/p>\n

Thomas Nail<\/a>, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Denver<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\nAlecto<\/span><\/strong>, Megaera<\/span><\/strong>, and Tisiphone<\/strong><\/span>, I believe it would be helpful if those of us who can reason and learn do our best to adopt patience with those who can’t and don’t. A little understanding can go a long way.\u00a0 Beyond that, we need to stay strong and keep up our resistance – now in multiple senses.<\/p>\n

The Furies and I will be back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":36802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3729],"class_list":["post-39177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-furies","category-5-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}