Truth lies in the deep. Unamuno, Life 3.1

Unamuno stares into the abyss.

Parémonos en esto del inmortal anhelo de inmortalidad, aunque los gnósticos o intelectuales puedan decir que es retórica lo que sigue y no filosofía. También el divino Platón, al disertar en su Fedón sobre la inmortalidad del alma, dijo que conviene hacer sobre ella leyendas, μύθους ἀλλ’ οὐ λόγους (61b).

Recordemos ante todo una vez más, y no será la última, aquello de Spinoza de que cada ser se esfuerza por perseverar en él, y que este esfuerzo es su esencia misma actual, e implica tiempo indefinido, y que el ánimo, en fin, ya en sus ideas distintas y claras, ya en las confusas, tiende a perseverar en su ser con duración indefinida y es sabedor de este su empeño (Ethice, part. III, props. VI-IX).

Imposible nos es, en efecto, concebirnos como no existentes, sin que haya esfuerzo alguno que baste a que la conciencia se dé cuenta de la absoluta inconsciencia, de su propio anonadamiento. Intenta, lector, imaginarte en plena vela cuál sea el estado de tu alma en el profundo sueño; trata de llenar tu conciencia con la representación de la inconsciencia, y lo verás. Causa congojosísimo vértigo el empeñarse en comprenderlo. No podemos concebirnos como no existiendo.

Let us pause to consider our immortal longing for immortality, though gnostics and intellectuals may say that what follows is just rhetoric rather than philosophy. Plato too, peer of the gods (†), when discussing the immortality of the soul in the Phaedo, surmised that what we need are legends: "myths, not sober accounts" (61b).

We must remember yet again, and not for the last time, Spinoza's point that every being strives to remain itself; that this striving is its actual essence; that it implies indefinite time; and in sum that the mind, whether its ideas are distinct and lucid or confused, tends to persevere in its being for an indeterminate period, conscious of its efforts in this endeavor (Ethica 3.6-9).

It is effectively impossible for us to conceive ourselves as nonexistent. We need no special effort to prove this: it is enough for our consciousness to recognize absolute unconsciousness, its own annihilation. Try to imagine, dear reader, the state of your soul as it rocks adrift on that ocean of endless sleep. Try to fill your conscience with a picture of unconsciousness, and you will see for yourself. The attempt to comprehend this vastness leaves us dizzy with grief greater than we can bear. We cannot see ourselves in the moment we don't inhabit.

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(†) Aristocles of Athens (c. 428-423 BCE) was known by the nickname Plato—from the Greek πλατύς, meaning broad: some say the name was given to him by his wrestling coach, on account of his broad chest (Diogenes Laertius 3.4). He was an aristocrat, born into a family that traced its lineage back to Codrus, the first king of Athens. Born during the Peloponnesian war, young Plato nevertheless learned much from many masters, including his most famous teacher, Socrates. He came of age under the doomed regime of the Thirty Tyrants, surviving its collapse to travel the world and found the Academy, an institution of learning in Athens where many philosophers, notably Aristotle, pursued their studies (especially geometry). He was rather unfortunately involved in Sicilian politics, to the point that he was once sold into slavery on the orders of Dionysius, tyrant of Syracuse. The Epicurean philosopher Anniceris redeemed him, and in the end he died of old age in Athens. The Academy outlived him, lasting up until the first century BCE, which saw the death of its last master, Philo of Larissa, and the total destruction of its physical premises by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who ravaged and plundered the suburbs of Athens while laying seige to the city, which had declared for Mithridates against Rome. Like Mithridates, Athens ultimately could not withstand Sulla's luck: she fell on the Kalends of March, in the year 86 BCE.