Death is the absolute opposite of existence, it cannot be perceived. There is no such thing called death on the perceptual level and it is the absolute nonexistence. It is only possible to grasp nothingness when one understands nonexistence of perception. The nothingness we concieve and perceive of, could only be a constructed one.

Humans are the only living beings that not only can know, but also can know that he knows, and cannot be unknowledgeable of what he knows. Thus it is impossible for us to be oblivious of the knowledge that we are mortal. But the death we conceive of is unknowable because we can't experience it. Caught in this dilemma, death is the impulsive force that creates meaning.

It is in some way true that we don't want to believe in mortality. When we do, we may think that life is meaningless and trying harder to get along is futile. If we look at this problem in a Lacanian way, death was what humans had wanted in the first place. From the moment he was born, a human baby wants to get back to the mother's womb, he dreams of being dead. When in the womb, he wasn't a being that is separate from his mother, he "was" his mother, a state of absolute peace. After realising through the mirror stage that he is a separate being and there exists other such conscious beings, he desires something out of this world. We can say that in some sense, this desire might be "death".

It is often expressed in the works of existentialists that life and death are interdependent. Seneca puts, "No man enjoys the true taste of life, but he who is ready and willing to quit it." Which means the ones that are conscious of the knowledge of death can better appreciate life. But it is so cumbersome for a human being to live with this knowledge all the time. Because death is the greatest defeat of mind. The only thing a consciousness cannot grasp is the non-existence of itself.

Perhaps this is why public execution is abolished with the coming of modernism, the age of reason. Graveyards are thrown out of the city and funeral ceremonies are not what they used to be. The More distant the idea of death, the stronger reason feels. Enlightenment is in this sense the only way to fight the tension between knowledge of death and human mind. Which is to make the idea of death something mundane; or to throw it away--modernism accomplished both.

One can imagine a reality in which there are no stars and galaxies, and even no matter; but he cannot think of a reality where there is no thought. Thus death, in its most clear form, is ultimate absurdity. It is impossible to think there is no reason. Such nonexistence, could be only thought of by means of rejection. Thinking about death is actually rejecting it altogether.

We act as if we are not going to die. This is a perfect accomplishment, despite the whatever the circumstances are. It is the triumph of will over reason. Whenever we see that no effort is being made for this disbelief, we doubt that it is of individual origin. Disbelief of death must be already allowed for, confirmed, and made into law. We owe our awareness of absurdity of death, to being social animals with language in society and culture.

"It seems that I know that I know. What I would like to see is the eye that knows me when I know that I know that I know." -Capsula
