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I
UNAMUNO SPEAKS FOR ALL of us when he says: "I do not want to die- no; I neither want to die nor do I want to want to die; I want to live for ever and ever and ever."1 In our hurry to cast off thoughts of death we latch onto beatific visions of immortality without asking whether an eternal existence would be desirable. Although it seems obvious that no gift could be as great as eternal life, Bernard Williams offers a compelling argument against the value of immortality, suggesting that over the course of eternity we would either cease to be the same person or find ourselves trapped in perpetual meaninglessness.2
Although I reject Williams's argument, I defend his conclusion that over the course of an infinite amount of time our lives would ultimately become undesirable. I argue that the principal problem with immortality is that it would sap our decisions of significance, which, combined with a few related factors, would result in a general motivational collapse. I begin by examining Williams's argument, first explaining the parameters by which he thinks we should evaluate the desirability of any form of immortal existence. Provisionally, against Williams's charges, I defend what he calls the Tiresias model of immortality.
Then, through an examination of Borges's story "The Immortal" I develop an argument against immortality that has some similarities to Martha Nussbaum's position. In response to John Martin Fischer's objections, I attempt to reveal the principal problems with immortality by systematically examining the various forms of immoral life. My central claim is that an immortal life for those of fixed ability will inevitably result in endless frustration, since the number of significant projects that one is capable of completing is finite, but the span of time is infinite.
II
In "The Makropulos Case," Williams argues that "an endless life would be a meaningless one, and that we could have no reason for living an eternally human life." He does not claim that the life of a god would be undesirable; rather, he argues that immortality would fail to support a meaningful "human life." Of course, the notion of a "human life" is vague, and unfortunately Williams is not altogether clear about just what he intends. The problem...