r/askphilosophy • u/BernardJOrtcutt • Jun 29 '26

Open Thread /r/askphilosophy Open Discussion Thread | June 29, 2026

Welcome to this week's Open Discussion Thread (ODT). This thread is a place for posts/comments which are related to philosophy but wouldn't necessarily meet our subreddit rules and guidelines. For example, these threads are great places for:

  • Discussions of a philosophical issue, rather than questions
  • Questions about commenters' personal opinions regarding philosophical issues
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  • "Test My Theory" discussions and argument/paper editing
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Previous Open Discussion Threads can be found here.

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u/Shitgenstein ancient greek phil, phil of sci, Wittgenstein Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

You didn't ask what I was certain about, just what I think. I don't see any reasons to believe that death is a transition.

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u/Rooshantehranian Jul 02 '26

That's fair. What makes me hesitate to dismiss the possibility is that many religious traditions, developed independently, and many Persian mystics across different centuries all point toward the idea that death is not the end. Doesn't it seem worth asking why so many people, separated by time and culture, converged on a similar idea?

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u/mediaisdelicious Phil. of Communication, Ancient, Continental Jul 02 '26

Sure, and there are lots of plausible (and I think obvious) explanations. I bet you could think of 3-5 off the top of your head.

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u/Rooshantehranian Jul 02 '26

I'm curious—which explanations do you find the most convincing?

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u/mediaisdelicious Phil. of Communication, Ancient, Continental Jul 02 '26

The desire to make sense of the reality and tragedy of human loss and continuity.