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In the Letter to Menoeceus (I-4) Epicurus argues that death is not bad for the one who dies. (It may be bad for other people, but Epicurus is not here concerned with that case.) Here's the question: What is Epicurus' argument for that conclusion? That is, what reasons does Epicurus give for thinking that death is not bad for the one who dies? Set these out as clearly as you can. Then, when you have done that, try to formulate a criticism with this argument: take up the position of someone who thinks that death can be bad for the one who dies, and try to figure out where in his argument Epicurus went wrong. (Tip: Try to think of a case where being dead is bad for the one who dies. How does that case show Epicurus' argument to be flawed?)

I do want you to write up an answer to these questions and bring it to class on Thursday. If you choose, you can use that paragraph from I-4 as the subject for your Reading Journal.

A few notes. First, Epicurus is talking about the state of being dead, not the process of dying. Dying might be very bad indeed (a long, slow, painful dying process, for instance), but Epicurus' point is that, no matter how bad the dying process is, being dead is not a bad thing. Keep your focus there.

Second, note that if Epicurus is right, there is no reason for any of us to be afraid of death. After all, if we know that death is not a bad thing for us (that's what Epicurus is trying to prove) then we have no reason to fear it. You might compare Epicurus' argument here to Socrates' argument in the Apology that there is no reason to be afraid of death.