The free man thinks least of death
Formal Statement
A free man thinks of death least of all things; and his wisdom is a meditation not of death but of life.
In Plain Language
A free man — one guided by reason — does not dwell on death because reason deals with what is, not with negation. Death is the end of the body's capacity, and a mind focused on understanding is focused on what it can do, not on what will destroy it. This does not mean the free man is reckless or in denial. It means that freedom changes your orientation: you face toward life and its possibilities, not away from death and its terrors. The metaphysics of necessity has not changed — you will still die — but your relationship to that fact has.
Why This Follows
Steps 14-15 (df-14, df-15) established that freedom is grounded in adequate knowledge and is inherently social. This step shows what that freedom looks like from the inside: it redirects attention from fear (a passive affect tied to imagination of future destruction) to active engagement with life. Freedom changes orientation, not metaphysics.
Freedom reorients the mind toward life, not away from death.
Spinoza says wisdom is a meditation on life, not death. The Stoics said "memento mori." Are these positions really opposed, or could they be compatible?