Being philosophical about living and dying

• Digby Tantam

• Deputy Principal, NSPC; Co-director, Existential Academy; Visiting Professor, Middlesex University; Emeritus Professor, University of Sheffield

A scientific slant

• Most of us, most of the time, want to live as long as we can

Klenk, J., Keil, U., Jaensch, A., Christiansen, M. C., & Nagel, G. (2016). Changes in life expectancy 1950-2010: Contributions from age- and disease-specific mortality in selected countries. Population health metrics, 14(1). doi:10.1186/s12963-016-0089-x

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Changing conceptions of ageingWith thanks to Mortimer, C. (2016). Cheating death: the potency and perversity of Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple. Social Semiotics, 26(3), 311-324. doi:10.1080/10350330.2015.1134822

http://www.med.uottawa.ca/sim/data/

QALYs_e.htm

A scientific slant

• Most of us, most of the time, want to live as long as we can

• But not if our lives are miserable

Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. 

Eurostat: quality of life indicators

• 1. Material living conditions

• 2. Productive or main activity

• 3. Health

• 4. Education

• 5. Leisure and social interactions

• 6. Economic and physical safety

• 7. Governance and basic rights

• 8. Natural and living environment

EuroQOL 5D used by NICE

MobilitySelf-careUsual activities e.g. work, study, leisurePain or discomfortAnxiety or depression

WHOQOL SPRB

WHOQOL SPRB

Not all opposites are opposed

Akrasia

A scientific slant

• Most of us, most of the time, want to live as long as we can

• But not if our lives are miserable

• Many of us do not want to be prudential, though: we do not live towards death

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Is this being philosophical?

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https://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/wellbeing.htm

Neuroimaging studies do not correspond to the deductive-

nomological model of science (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-explanation/)

They are ways of accumulating information

to form the basis for induction

They do however presume a law that is almost

certainly wrong: that brain events correspond to psychological events

Like case histories, psychophysical measures in

the 19th. Century, or questionnaires in the 20th., they are a new and over-

valued source of information.

Fig. 4. Results of the EEG-informed analysis of the fMRI data. The figures show group statistical maps for the psychophysiological interaction [EEG-asymmetry-based regressor] × [Happy − Count]. The maps are projected onto the standard anatomical template

Vadim Zotev, Raquel Phillips, Han Yuan, Masaya Misaki, Jerzy Bodurka Self-regulation of human brain activity using simultaneous real-time fMRI and EEG neurofeedback NeuroImage, Volume 85, Part 3, 2014, 985–995

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Suardi, A., Sotgiu, I., Costa, T., Cauda, F., & Rusconi, M. (2016). The neural correlates of happiness: A review of PET and fMRI studies using autobiographical recall methods. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 16(3), 383-392

“Regardless of the neuroimaging technique used, the studies conducted so far have shown that remembering happy events is primarily associated with the activation of many areas, including anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and insula. Importantly, these areas are also found to be connected with other basic emotions, such as sadness and anger. In the conclusion, we integrate these findings, discussing important limitations of the extant literature and suggesting new research directions”

Fig. 4. Results of the EEG-informed analysis of the fMRI data. The figures show group statistical maps for the psychophysiological interaction [EEG-asymmetry-based regressor] × [Happy − Count]. The maps are projected onto the standard anatomical template

Vadim Zotev, Raquel Phillips, Han Yuan, Masaya Misaki, Jerzy Bodurka Self-regulation of human brain activity using simultaneous real-time fMRI and EEG neurofeedback NeuroImage, Volume 85, Part 3, 2014, 985–995

There’s nothing wrong with induction

• That, I think, is a very kindly account of what I try to do: to immerse myself in the past until I know it well enough for my judgment of what is or is not representative to seem acceptable without undue epistemological debate. Historians are like reliable local guides. Ideally, they will know the terrain like the backs of their hands. They recognise all the inhabitants and have a sharp eye for strangers and impostors. They may not have much sense of world geography and probably can’t even draw a map. But if you want to know how to get somewhere, they are the ones to take you.

•  Prof. Sir Keith Thomas Diaryhttp://www.lrb.co.uk/v32/n11/keith-thomas/diary

• LRB Vol. 32 No. 11 · 10 June 2010 pages 36-37

The search for a happiness quotient:Davidson index of PFC asymmetry

• Kahneman, D., & Riis, J. (2005). Living and Thinking about It: Two Perspectives on Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kahneman, D., & Riis, J. (2005). Living and Thinking about It: Two Perspectives on Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The search for a happiness quotient:Davidson index of PFC asymmetry

• Kahneman, D., & Riis, J. (2005). Living and Thinking about It: Two Perspectives on Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Aggregate of moment utilities or PFC asymmetry

The search for a happiness quotient:Davidson index of PFC asymmetry

• Kahneman, D., & Riis, J. (2005). Living and Thinking about It: Two Perspectives on Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Aggregate of moment utilities or PFC asymmetry

Hedonic happiness,short-term aggregates

Eudaimonia, orgood spirits

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Aristotle

Aristippus of Cyrene

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Mitchell, C., Hobcraft, J., McLanahan, S. S., Siegel,

S. R., Berg, A., Brooks-Gunn, J., Notterman, D.

(2014). Social disadvantage, genetic

sensitivity, and children’s telomere length.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

111(16), 5944-5949

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Liu, B., Floud, S., Pirie, K., Green, J., Peto, R., & Beral, V. Does happiness itself directly affect mortality? The prospective UK Million Women Study. The Lancet, 387(10021), 874-881. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01087-9

1.3 million womenHow often do you feel happy?How do you rate your health?Followed up for mean 9.6 yearsRelative risk of dying in this period if unhappy at the beginning (which 17% were) was 1.29

A scientific slant• Most of us, most of the time, want to live as long as we can

• But not if our lives are miserable

• Many of us do not want to be prudential, though: we do not live towards death

• Some of us do

• Subjective health is predictive of early death

• So is subjective happiness

• In fact they are the same

• (but depression may have an additive effect, along with socio-economic factors and social status)

• Read my book for more! (and learn from Julian and Emmy)

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