To Live Gratefully: The Grateful Response to the Gift of Life (thesis)

Abstract

To evaluate the proper response to receiving the gift of life, we must ask what constitutes proper gratitude. I claim that there are two fundamental parts to gratitude: the mental state and the return. While this return can certainly be a benefit of the same kind (e.g. saving one's savior's life), few have the opportunity to respond in such a manner. So, for the rest of us, I argue that we should pay back these benefits by cultivating our virtues, thereby creating a relationship of beneficence and personal improvement between the giver and receiver. [From introductory section]