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Death is a central theme in existentialism, but not all existentialists share the same philosophy of death. In this talk, philosophy professor Dr. Kiki Berk will compare Jean-Paul Sartre’s and Simone de Beauvoir’s philosophies of death. Sartre and Beauvoir were French existentialists who lived and worked closely together. They developed large portions of their philosophies together and, as a result, hold many of the same views. Interestingly, their answers to some of the central questions in Philosophy of Death—for example: Is death bad? Should we fear death? and: Does death deprive life of meaning?—differ substantially. There are also important differences in their views on the related topics of aging, immortality, and meaning in life.

Learning about the similarities and differences between Sartre’s and Beauvoir’s positions and their supporting arguments contributes to our understanding of existentialism and challenges us to develop our own philosophical views on mortality.

Dr. Kiki Berk is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Southern New Hampshire University. She received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the VU University Amsterdam in 2010. Her current research interests include value theory (especially happiness), analytic existentialism (especially the meaning of life), and the philosophy of death.