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Has anyone discussed this particular problem, which may be a subset of Epicurean problems:
This seems problematic, even-though I understand how there is less pain in the world when someone in pain dies.
e.g. my own pain seems especially important, if not anymore evil, than pain in general: can that be maintained if there's no longer any me?
Death is nothing to us; for that which has been dissolved into its elements experiences no sensations, and that which has no sensation is nothing to us.
The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When such pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together.
Continuous bodily pain does not last long; instead, pain, if extreme, is present a very short time, and even that degree of pain which slightly exceeds bodily pleasure does not last for many days at once. Diseases of long duration allow an excess of bodily pleasure over pain.
...and such from Principal Doctrines putatively by Epicurus himself.
You could also check out "The Conquest of Fear and Worry" by John Herman Randall from his 1909 "A New Philosophy of Life"
More recently from the University of Glasgow, there's also Elizabeth Telfer's article, "Philosophical Approaches to the Dilemma of Death with Dignity" which addresses utilitarian and consequentialist positions.
And this dissertation may be what you are looking for: "In Defence of Euthanasia: The Epicurean View of Death" by Andreas J. M. Blom
I would question, however, the notions you mention in your bounty notes that "pain is innately bad" and from the question that pain is "evil" - and this whether "pain" in the sense of physical, emotional, mental pain or what have you. Pain is ontologically subjective. In that sense, consider Searle's distinction of "feeling a pain and engaging in pain behavior", per his recent Ted Talk.
"My pains have a subjective mode of existence in that they only exist as experienced by me, the subject. But mountains and molecules have an objective mode of existence because they exist whether or not they are experienced by any subject. It can be an epistemically objective matter of fact that I have a pain even though the mode of existence of the pain is ontologically subjective."
John R. Searle, Philosophy in a New Century, 2008)
From within an Epicurean point of view, given the existence of power and empathy, there is not a problem here. The bullet-pointed question is on point entirely, but 'when someone in pain dies' is outside the relevant frame of reference, unless that person is you. The release from pain of other people is not something that you can consider. How could you judge the balance of their pleasure and pain? Why would you try to do the impossible?
You are competent to judge your own suffering, and the odds are that objectively considering it, the balance is not no negative you would rather not exist, unless you have honestly rid yourself of the natural human bias toward existing. But if you are really there, dying is in order.
Epicurus would care nothing about the suffering of the dead person, before or after his death, except to the extend that it affects himself. He is not a utilitarian, he is a hedonist, so there is no aggregation of all suffering or pleasure, only the given suffering or pleasure of each individual who has to choose to act. A hedonist still needs to be concerned with others' pleasure or pain because pleasure and pain travel between individuals, and ideas like fairness and safety require communal action to avoid mental anguish.
Others' suffering pains many people. The work on oneself that would protect one from that is the Stoic way, which Epicureanism rejects as too hard to be sensible. Suffering others also often decide to spread their pain around. So removing the opportunity for both seems like a reasonable way to reduce the odds of being victim to either of these effects. That would increase the degree of one's own happiness.
The idea that the release of others from pain would be good does not rely on their having value of their own. It is enough that humans are constructed in a way that borrows pain from others and that pain encourages bad decisions and rash actions that can cause others pain. Since we are others' others, we will be doing some of that borrowing and suffering some of that transferred aggression and poor judgement.
It is a hard question since there is a living state known as “life with no pain”. You speak as to “death with no pain”. Inasmuch as life in pain gave you a negative number, a purely dis pleasurable experience, death would rid you of a negative and get you to zero. That has to be good of course; a sort of release, rest, liberation.
Yes death can be a good. Had death not existed many people would have to live in pain for eternity, specially those who choose to end their lives voluntarily.
Speaking of all the rest of the people, someday we would be content with all the wishes and experiences and finally we would crave a desire to end our lives since that would be the only experience we would not have had.
Even if the mentioned above scenarios would not occur, death is still good since our death will allow the rest of the people to flourish and let them do their time in this world which would otherwise be full of conflict if death hadn't taken us away.
Pain is a suffering experienced by the body. Actually we are not this body. All the major philosophy states that we are not this body. We are the vital living force(energy) within the body. The vital living force(energy) is spread thought the body in the form of consciousness.
This body is a temporary manifestation of the elements of this nature (Combination of heat,light,water,earth and air). But the living force within the body is an unique eternal energy which will not destroy even after the death.
Death is nothing but a translocation of that vital living force from one body to another body(Not necessarily to be a human body) by the arrangement of nature. As long as we transfer from one body to another body we will be suffering continuously life after life.
So, the ultimate solution to get rid of the suffering is to get rid of this material nature which is giving this repeated birth and death. Now the question is where we will get a eternal body ?
Go to www.vedabase.com/en/bg/18/56 to find the answer :)
Energy can neither be created nor be destroyed, It can be transformed from one form to another form. Our body is made up of such energy that it will annihilate into another form of energy. But the vital living force can never be transformed from one form to another form. Refer Here: www.vedabase.com/en/bg/2/20
