This article explores the relevance of death to the value of life. After a preliminary discussion of the human experience of mortality, I consider Heidegger’s argument that death is a condition of authenticity, Sartre’s claim that death is an externality that is irrelevant because it cannot be lived and Simmel’s theory that death is a boundary that is transcended by life. While all theories have their merits, I suggest that Simmel’s approach, which articulates well with Levinas’s ethical critique of Heidegger, offers important insight into our responsibility for other people and for the survival of other forms of life.

中文翻译：

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死亡与生命的形式

本文探讨了死亡与生命价值的相关性。在初步讨论了人类对死亡的体验之后，我考虑了海德格尔关于死亡是真实性的条件的论点，萨特关于死亡是一种无关紧要的外部性的主张，因为它无法生活，以及齐美尔关于死亡是一种边界的理论生活。虽然所有理论都有其优点，但我认为齐美尔的方法与列维纳斯对海德格尔的伦理批判非常吻合，它为我们对他人和其他形式的生命的生存的责任提供了重要的洞察力。