초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This article seeks to explore an Epicurean or Post-Darwinian understanding of the phenomenon of death conceived in Being Dead. Jim Crace, arguably as a disciple of physicalism vigorously preached by Dennett or Dawkins defines death as termination of physical activities of human consciousness which is entirely composed of matter. Being Dead is a fictional representation of Crace’s investigation of the phenomenon of death. My contention is that despite the author’s hard line physicalism, this novel leaves a room for interpreting death in terms of religious naturalism especially applicable to the two protagonists Joseph and Celice. The novelist’s physicalist stance is vividly demonstrated in the description of the two bodies at the brink of life and death; the narrator resorts to scientific jargons covering physics, chemistry, microbiology and calculus where there is no room for the Soul or Spirituality. In accordance with physicalist doctrines, there does not exist a qualitatively significant difference between homo sapiens and ordinary worms in that both are necessary outcomes of biological evolution. The transformation of the narrator from physicalist to religious naturalist may be theoretically supported by Dworkin, who has endeavored to shift the centerpiece of the controversy from objective truth to cultural values and ethics. Different from Dawkins or Dennett, he cherishes humanist values such as 1) independent and existentialist life, 2) viewing nature as sublime reality as well as objective reality. To sum up, Crace’s Being Dead is a masterpiece that launches a quest for a new religious belief system that may fulfill human wishes to live a fuller life on earth.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
physicalism, religious naturalism, Crace, Being Dead, death
