Abstract: By “peak experiences,” I mean experiences so wonderful that after having them, one sees no point in having more positive experiences and becomes indifferent to the prospect of having more positive experiences. Examples of activities that lead to peak experiences may include listening to extraordinary pieces of music (e.g. Wagner’s “Liebestod”), achieving mastery in a field of study, engaging in certain religious or mystic activities, playing an extreme sport, being in the state of flow, making an original scientific discovery, and more. Although one does not deny that the additional positive experiences after a peak experience are still good in themselves, it appears that more of them will not add more value to one’s life. To put it a bit too simply and bluntly, after one has peaked, it will not matter if one dies. I will discuss various questions raised by the unusual and paradoxical features of peak experiences, including the following: do peak experiences have infinite positive value? Will experiences cease to be enjoyable after the peak? Why is it that more positive experiences “will not matter anymore”? What does the existence of peak experiences suggest about the value of continued personal survival? Here I will make a connection to the contemporary debate about the desirability of immortality, initiated by Bernard Williams’ 1973 article “The Makropulos Case.” I will also discuss the epistemic problem of how one can know that the experience one had was a genuine peak experience, and how we should think about the badness of death in light of peak experiences.
