what’s the difference between “he died” and “he’s dead”? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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to me, they seem the same, but surely there’s a subtle nuance.

like, for example, i’ve heard: “i thought he died.” and “i thought he was dead” and they seem like synonyms.

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[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

“Clearness and vividness in writing often turn on mere specificity. To say that Major André was hanged is clear and definite; to say that he as killed is less definite, because you do not know in what way he was killed; to say that he died is still more indefinite because you do not even know whether his death was due to violence or to natural causes. If we were to use this statement as a varying symbol by which to rank writers for clearness, we might, I think, get something like the following: Swift, Macauley, and Shaw would say that André was hanged. Bradley would say that he was killed. Bosanquet would say that he died. Kant would say that his mortal existence achieved its termination. Hegel would say that a finite determination of infinity had been further determined by its own negation.”

this post was submitted on 30 May 2025

77 points (97.5% liked)

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