On Death
E867178
"On Death" is a lost philosophical work by the ancient Cyrenaic philosopher Hegesias of Cyrene, reputed for its starkly pessimistic arguments about life and the appeal of death.
Statements (33)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
ancient Greek philosophical text
ⓘ
lost philosophical work ⓘ |
| argumentStyle | extreme consequentialist hedonism ⓘ |
| associatedWithCity | Cyrene NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| attributedTo | Hegesias the Death-Persuader NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| author | Hegesias of Cyrene NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| culturalContext | Greek philosophy in Cyrenaica ⓘ |
| ethicalStance |
questioning of the value of continued life
ⓘ
radical pessimism ⓘ |
| focusesOn |
impossibility of secure happiness
ⓘ
prevalence of pain over pleasure in life ⓘ |
| genre | philosophical prose ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | Hellenistic period NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| influenceOn | reputation of Hegesias as a pessimist ⓘ |
| knownFrom |
Cicero
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
later doxographical tradition ⓘ secondary reports by later authors ⓘ |
| language | Ancient Greek ⓘ |
| mainTheme |
appeal of death
ⓘ
pessimism about life ⓘ suffering in human life ⓘ |
| philosophicalSchool | Cyrenaic school NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| philosophicalTradition | hedonism (Cyrenaic variant) ⓘ |
| positionOnDeath |
death is not an evil
ⓘ
death may be preferable to life ⓘ |
| positionOnLife | life is predominantly painful ⓘ |
| reception | considered morally dangerous by some ancient authorities ⓘ |
| regionOfOrigin | Ancient North Africa NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| survivalStatus | extant only in fragments and testimonia ⓘ |
| topic |
nature of happiness and pain
ⓘ
rational evaluation of life and death ⓘ suicide ⓘ |
| workStatus | lost ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.