Death comes, and takes from us what we at least think would be good: the continuation of our good lives. Can we avoid this, delay it, make it less bad? Can we hope to cheat death?

Ordinary means

It is already possible to avoid death. We can step out of the way of buses, wrap up warm and do what the doctor says. Take reasonable measures, and we may well extend our lives. It might be objected that here we avoid not death but only particular deaths. All we can do is delay the inevitable. Fair enough, but avoiding particular deaths, and delaying the inevitable, is often worth doing.

Here is another way. Death's badness consists, at least in large part, in depriving us of the good. It stops us from getting what we want. We can take the sting out of death by reducing our attachment to the good. Care less about the future, and death, when it comes, will damage us less. But this selfabnegation is self-defeating. We do not effectively counter death by prior and unforced self-denial.

And another way. Someone might think they can avoid some particular death by choosing instead to die earlier. Rather than face execution a prisoner might take his own life. In some circumstances, perhaps because of illness or disease, life may not be worth living. So an earlier death may be preferable.