ABSTRACT
Buddhism is an ancient religion. The Pharisees supported the doctrine of resurrection, whereas the Sadducees, defenders of the "old-time religion," rejected it as a modernistic innovation. According to some religions, each individual has a separate soul which is created by God, and which, finally after death, lives eternally either in hell or heaven, its destiny depending on the judgment of its creator. Philosophy showing that death is the end of all consciousness relieves us of all fear of death. For a philosophy wedded to stubborn empirical facts, death is a closed topic; yet the anticipation of death and even the fear of death are also empirical facts that must be taken into account in any serious philosophical reflection on the nature of human existence. The atomistic theory of Democritus and Leucippus provided an explanation for the view that it is folly to think of human beings as immortal.
