Ultimate question

It used to be said that the ultimate philosophical question is “What would you do if you had 24 hours left to live?” This is the execution view of life, the invitation to put on a good party, say your farewells, and strap in. It begs the “eat, drink, and be merry” answer. But it is the wrong question. Because we always have death before us. That is not the issue. Stephen Batchelor phrases it more appropriately as something like this: “Because death is certain, and because the time of death is not certain, what are we to do?” It is as certain as is our birth, an inexhorable passage from one point to another. But it is not a matter of 24 hours or even 24 years but just a matter of life itself, of living itself. How do we choose, prioritize, assign value? How do we interpret, pursue, find a path? What are we to do with this consciousness we have? These are the questions that should occur to us as the ultimate philosophical questions.