Neoplatonism - Plotinus
Plotinus lived during th thurd century crisis. Therefore a live of a common Roman Egyptian was full of chaos and wars, people were confused and philosophy started to melt together with religion. Due to not only the financial cost of the wars people were forced to move out of cities, were hungry and poor. Historians assume that whole third of the population died during this painful time period. Luc Ferry (as interpreted in the 15th episode of Philosophize This! podcast) says that w e have been rewarded with an unique ability to reason and also to look in the past, therefore regret, and to the future, therefore be anxious. Both philosophy and religion are ways how to cope with fear of death, which to him is rather a fear of irreversibility. However they both use utterly different ways. Christianity says that death is followed by a hopefully happy life on another level and our whole being is just a part of God´s providential care which is des...