Author(s): Gizem KÖSEOĞLU Önder BİLGİN
The phenomena of life and death are brothers. The person who maintains biological continuity is determined from the moment of birth with the perspective of death. Death is in life; is the phenomenon showing the beginning of the end. Therefore, one cannot think of life or death separately. The inexplicable part of death leads to fear of life. The threat posed by death is so intolerable that one tries to breathe between the present and the future. Even if the phenomenon of death is a part of our existence, the horror it creates plays an important role in our inner lives. This shows the tension of human existence. Epicurus, who is the representative of the epicureanism, explains the concepts of life and death in the back ground of materialist ideas. For Epicurus, the concept of life corresponds to the union of atoms, and the concept of death corresponds to the decomposition of atoms. Thus, Epicurus abstracts from metaphysical meanings as it places matter in life and death phenomena. Placing atoms at the base of everything Epicurus explains human understanding according to physics theories. According to him, human, body and soul are formed by the union of atoms. Epicurus therefore places his materialist views in his ontology. Epicurus explains the ontological individual based on the theory of atoms, which he accepts as the only reality. Since life is a union and death is a decomposition, these phenomena cannot shake people deeply. So there is no point for him to withdraw from life and fear death. Therefore, the aim is to show that Epicurus' indifferent attitude towards the phenomenon of life and death can lead to psychological alienation of man and to be seen as part of a mechanical order. Because human is a psychological entity.
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