Good Friday & Hospice

Good Morning, Students,

I thought you might want to know that I witnessed a death early this morning, while I was on-shift with hospice in the 11th hour program.  I took the 3am-8am shift because I didn't have work today and knew I could sleep during the day if necessary.

The nurse came in maybe around 4am?  I explained who I was, said I was on-shift until 8am.  She said, I don't think you'll be here that long.  And she was right.  The death was very peaceful -- breathing slowed and then finally stopped. No "death rattle," nothing dramatic, just stopped.  I got the nursing aid to confirm the death, which she did, and then the nurse came back from wherever she had been working.

I didn't pay attention to the time when I thought she had stopped breathing.  I wanted confirmation from a professional that what seemed to have happened really did happen.  I was a tiny bit surprised when the nurse asked me what time she died, which was needed for the official paperwork. I checked the time I called in to hospice and then subtracted a few minutes.  I think I was responsible for the official time of death.  Interesting, eh?  But, obviously, who else would know better than the person who was there when the death happened?

Time of death.  We mark it by the hour and the minute, but I'm not sure it is really that precise.  Breathing stops, so the heart must follow soon after.  But the body is still warm.  If a spirit or soul leaves, when does that happen?  It makes the most sense to me -- and I'm not even certain that we have spirits or even individual souls/spirits -- that the soul/psyche/anima/spirit/energy just kind of fades away.  I think that's how much? most? dying must be -- just falling asleep, losing connection, fading away.  Not the dramatic, fighting against death kind of dying, but the "normal," end-of-a-reasonably-long-life kind of dying.  The energy source just runs out.

It feels significant to be with someone who is actively dying, but, at least for me, it doesn't feel mystical.  It feels more . . . ."natural"?   Not trivial by any means, but not dramatic.  And not scary, either.  Don't be scared about this kind of dying.  Other, horrible accident, rushed-to-the-ER dying probably is very scary (we can ask Melissa to weigh in here), but not all dying is out of a movie.  This is just companionship, a walking-with, holding a hand or just touching the person's arm or forehead.  And then your work is done and there is a different kind of work to do by others -- washing and dressing the body, moving the body to the funeral home or wherever.  Don't be scared of a body, either, in this kind of natural dying.  Skin color can look different -- but someone who is alive and very sick also might have an "unnatural" skin color.  Being with someone you don't know is moving, meaningful, significant and that moves me to tears, but it isn't sad the way the death of someone you know, or know well, is sad, wrenching, dizzying, and/or disorienting.

The facility was Catholic, but I'm not sure if this patient was.  But how meaningful to die or be with someone dying on Good Friday, right?

It was comforting to leave in the light, to come home to furry, playful cats and have breakfast with my husband.  I'm looking forward to seeing friends and family this weekend and a bright, beautiful, joyous Easter.

Peace.

Conversations of a Lifetime

I just heard about this on the radio on my way home from work after our class tonight:
https://www.hospiceofcincinnati.org/conversations.shtml

Might help if you want to have "that conversation" this weekend.

End of course reflections & big questions

You don't have to answer all of these prompts -- try to address 2 or 3.    

What is human nature?

Why is a conception of human nature of important?  What does it do for us?

§  What ought we to do?

§  How ought we live?

§  What kind of society should we have?

§  Who is responsible for what and why?

§  What kind of economic & political system is just?

What have you learned about death & dying that is important to you?  Is surprising to you?

Has this helped you reflect on the meaning of life?

What does life mean?  

Am I living a good life? 

What is death? 

What’s my legacy?

Who is the patient? Patient & family obligations

Is the patient only the patient?  How does the family factor in here?  Who counts as family?  Relatedly, what obligations does a patient have to a family?  The family to the patient?  To the community?

Relatedly from 20April14 "House Calls Are Making a Comeback"
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/business/house-calls-are-making-a-comeback.html?referrer=

Futile Treatment, Duty to Die

What is futile treatment?  Does a patient's desire for treatment -- even what's medically futile -- necessitate that a physician agree to provide that treatment?  Does it matter if the patient can pay or not?

How Ought We To Live?

This is specifically referencing the Conclusions to your Stevenson and Barry texts, but you aren't limited to that text in building your answer.

Reflect on the upcoming anniversary of the Boston Marathon Bombing (due 15-7 April)

*one week* after the Boston Marathon Bombing
A Salon.com retrospective
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/20/across_america_a_week_of_chaos_horror___and_hope/


One year anniversary is 15 April.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/us/anniversary-of-boston-marathon-bombings.html?hp  

Does Death Give Life Meaning?

What do you think after our course? Use the last chapters of both books as well as other course materials and discussions.

Your Obituary

Review the Preface and pp. 6-13 of Barry and The Death of Ivan Illyich.  What is the meaning of life?  What are you not realizing about life?  How might an examination of life inform your living?  Answer this question, in part, by thinking about your own obituary.  What do you need to do now in order to have that obituary?  Feel free to reference Barry, Stevenson & Tolstoy in your response.

Philosophy in the World

What experiences in your life are hard to reconcile with our course material?  (Be specific in identifying the material).  Why is it hard?  What else could you do to square your thinking/philosophizing and your lived experience?

More Philosophy?  Would you take an additional philosophy course if money/time weren’t factors?  Explain.

Good Friday & Easter

Christians are the only major religious people to have a symbol of death represent them.  Comments on the holiday?  What it means to you and/or what you think it means to others?  Questions you have?

Having grown up in the Northern hemisphere, I've always associated Easter with new life, but I was reminded by someone over the weekend that it is fall in the southern hemisphere.  What do you think about that?

April Current Events

*new* 21April Reflections on the impact of the Schiavo case
http://nyti.ms/1hMTeIT 
To this day, the name Schiavo is virtually a synonym for epic questions about when life ends and who gets to make that determination.

http://nyti.ms/1ivPnyR  South Korean ferry capsize

After two days of futile efforts, South Korean divers have entered the capsized ferry where hundreds of people were feared to have been trapped when the ship sank Wednesday.

15April
Utah Garage Cleaning Turns Up Boxes of Suffocated Infants - NYTimes.com

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/us/utah-garage-cleaning-turns-up-boxes-of-suffocated-infants.html?referrer=

14 April
3 killed in shootings at Kansas City-area Jewish centers
http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/13/us/kansas-jewish-center-shooting/

13April
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/magazine/the-paramedic-murderer-of-narrowsburg-ny.html?ref=us
Story about a paramedic who murdered his wife.

9April
Folks: you've got lots of current events feeding just to the right of these posts -- please start reading and commenting on some of them.

Another shooting at Ft. Hood - NYTimes 3 April
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/us/gunshots-reported-at-fort-hood.html?emc=edit_th_20140403&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=25414714&_r=0&referrer=

Death of Ivan Ilych

Collectively address these questions:

1. Collectively come up with a brief 1 or 2 paragraph summary.

2. Write a 1 or 2 paragraph overall reaction to the story.

3. Comment on the following passages:

* p. 38 death as a third person, the screens

"It came up and stood right in front of him, and looked at him, and he froze, the light died out of his eyes, and once more he started asking himself, 'Surely it can't be the only truth?' . . . . And what was worst of all was that it drew his attention to itself, not for him to do something different, but only for him to look it straight in the eyes, look at it and, having nothing else to do, suffer unspeakably" (p. 38 section 6).

 

* p. 42 propriety, how people behave (then, now, etc.)

* p. 43 wanting to be cuddled, touched, treated as human

" .... he wanted someone to pity him as a sick child is pitied.  He wanted them to stroke him, kiss him, cry a little over him, as children are cuddled and consoled" (p. 43, section 7)

 

* p. 45-7 lies, not talking directly about the dying except to the servant, Gerasim (more on p. 50)

* p. 50-2 pain, abandonment, life review, the failure of propriety

There are also some discussion questions on p. 117.  Discuss 3, 4, 5, & 6

 

Plato - big questions

You don't have to answer all of these questions, just pick out 1-2 you aren't sure about:
1. What is the Socratic method? What is it used? (Why does Plato write in dialogue?)
2. Describe Plato's epistemology.
3. Describe his metaphysics.
*What is the Simile of the Line? What does it tell us?
* What are the Forms?
* What is the Allegory of the Cave?
4. Describe his ethics?
5. What is the appropriate relationship between a person and the State?
6. What is justice?
7. What is a person's obligation regarding the Law? What ought one to do when it is unjust?
8. Who ought to lead society?
9. What's Plato's view of the soul? What does he think about the body?
10. Does Socrates fear death? Why or why not?

FYI: You might want to review Barry pages 34, 86-89, 90, 93, 115, 161-2.  Remember also that some other thinkers were influenced by Plato -- we call them neoplatonists.  St. Augustine is one example (Barry, 54).

Aristotle -- happiness & moral luck

Aristotle teaches that some of what constitutes happiness comes from good luck, although much of it comes from hard work, the practice of virtue and the deliberate improvement of character.  What do you think about happiness?  Is Aristotle right?  Is it tied to character?  Relatedly, Aristotle says that you can't really be happy if you are too poor or too disabled, without enough to eat or friends to share your life with.  What do you say about that?

Aristotle - the virtuous life

Aristotle differs from his teacher, Plato, in many significant ways.  Identify at least two of those philosophical differences and as a group discuss them.  You'll need to respond to the group at least 2 separate times after your initial post.

You can start this thread by discussing whether or not Plato and Aristotle disagree about what the good life is and what Aristotle means by living a life of virtue.

Plato

a) Do you agree with Plato that the unexamined life if not worth living?  Explain.  Are you examining your life?  How?  Use specific examples.

b) Discuss how this is like the Existentialist's beliefs about living an authentic life.

Please gently challenge at least two of your classmates on their response to either a) or b).