Kathrine Joyce C.

Tordilla
3pm
Educ 501 (Philosophy of Education)
Colinares

Saturdays 12nnDr. Nilo E.

FLA 3 PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS

THE CULTURE OF DEATH:
CHRISTIANITY, PRAGMATISM, AND NATIONALISM
Thesis
Christians believe death is not the ultimate end of life. Instead Christians believe
that afterlife exists. When the physical body of a person dies, his soul lives on and is
raised to new life by God. Their belief that Jesus rose from the dead three days after
his crucifixion gives them hope that if they follow Jesus teaching and accept him as
their Lord and Saviour, then this new resurrection life awaits them. By being born as
a human being, and then dying on the cross, Jesus made this new life after death
possible for all. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me
will live, even though he dies.
John 11:25-26; For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Pragmatism consists of a unifying principle that underlies the connectedness of all
things in life and illumines ones understanding of why things are what they are. The
world of nature is the experiential, empirical world, characterized by human
conflicts and tragedies, by human habits and desires. Death, in their perspective, is
a natural occurrence and a reaction to the acts of man. When a life ends, a new life
is born. It is only a result to an ever-changing process in the world.
Nationalism is an ideology based on the premise that the individuals loyalty and
devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests. In a
Nationalists perspective, death is an act of bravery, selflessness, and love for the
country. They look upon people who willingly sacrifice their life for the nations sake.
One example of this is the courage shown by Dr. Jose P. Rizal when he fought
Spaniards in the country. He valiantly and fearlessly offered his life, fully aware of
the consequences, for the freedom of all the Filipinos.
Antithesis
As mentioned earlier, Christians believe in the afterlife that when the physical life
ends on earth, the soul of the person leaves the body and unites with the Lord in
Heaven. However, there are some Christians who fear death despite of their belief
in the eternal life, which is a direct opposition to their faith.
The pragmatisms concept of death is essentially based on the biological
evolutionary theory, which means all that goes on in the world of nature is part of
the continuous evolving natural process. However, there are certain circumstances
of which this theory cannot fully clarify. Such instances are unexplained deaths,
unknown severe illnesses, and so on.
Though dying can be an act of sacrifice for a nationalist, nowadays, a person may
still express his love for his motherland apart from losing his life. Singing the
national anthem with pride and honor, valuing the culture and belief,
conscientiously choosing the right leaders for the country, and so on, are instances
of having a sense of nationalism.

Synthesis
Every living creature is by nature afraid of dying. Christians are human, and like
everyone, they fear death. In crisis situations, fear of death is important to survival.
An animal species that lacks an instinctive fear of death wont survive even a few
generations. Therefore its normal for all creatures to fear death. Healthy people
spend a lifetime doing their best to avoid it. Surrendering to death without a
struggle is inherently unnatural.
Pragmatisms point of view regarding death is limited to the biological evolutionary
theory. Whatever statements there are about death or dying could always be
referred back to the world of natural and social phenomena for empirical
verification.
In this digital age, we can no longer speak of death as a basis of nationalism. There
are various ways of showing love for the country as mentioned. However, as I have
observed, we are now lacking in patriots largely due to the influence of other
cultures. The youth of this generation are more interested and inclined to other
culture than of ours.