Death and dying

This article examines the fear of death in fourteenth-century Italy by analysing miracle testimonies through the methodological frameworks of terror management theory (TMT) and lived religion. It argues that devotion to saints served as a key coping mechanism for existential anxiety. Examples from the canonisation processes of Clare of Montefalco and Nicholas of Tolentino reveal how individuals turned to saints for protection, seeking to prolong life rather than accept death. This study provides both empirical and methodological insights into the medieval fear of death, illustrating its parallels with contemporary experiences of death anxiety.

Der digitale Wandel bringt sowohl in theoretischer und empirischer als auch in pragmatischer Hinsicht tiefgreifende Veränderungen für das historische Studium und die Arbeitswelt angehender Historiker*innen mit sich. 1 So sind alle Stufen historiographischen Arbeitens von der Digitalisierung betroffen -von der Aufbereitung und Verfügbarmachung der Quellen im Archiv, der wissenschaftlichen Analyse und Auswertung bis zur Präsentation innerhalb verschiedener Medien, Erinnerungsorte und Kultureinrichtungen. Ein grundlegender Aspekt, der all diese Bereiche durchzieht, ist hierbei die zentrale Datengrundlage, auf der die Arbeit von Historiker*innen beruht. Liegt diese bislang zumeist ausschließlich in Form materiell gebundener Dokumente vor, ist die Transformierung der Quellen in ein digitales Format der wesentliche Schritt zur weiteren Arbeit. Die hierin liegenden Potentiale sind vielfältig: Gepaart mit der Zugänglichkeit des Internets ist die unkomplizierte Erreichbarkeit von digital aufbereiteten Textkorpora für die ‚scientific community' wie für die Öffentlichkeit allgemein gewährleistet. Mit den Potentialen gehen jedoch auch Herausforderungen einher: So ist das Feld an Werkzeugen, Hilfsmitteln, Standards und nicht zuletzt Literatur enorm angewachsen und entsprechend unübersichtlich. An dieser Stelle setzte der hier vorgestellte Lehr-Lern-Versuch an: Unser Ziel war es, Studierenden in der Aufbauphase des Geschichtsstudiums mittels einer engen Theorie-Praxis-Verzahnung die methodische Herangehensweise für die digitale Aufbereitung von Quellenmaterial nahezubringen. Zu diesem Zweck wurde der komplexe Erfahrungsbereich des Umgangs vormoderner Gesellschaften mit ‚Tod und Sterben' zum Ausgangspunkt genommen, um sich in theoriegeleiteter Auseinandersetzung mit nicht-edierten Quellen des 14. bis 18. Jahrhunderts zu beschäftigen. Wir konzipierten eine Forschungs-

Der Beitrag beschäftigt sich anhand eines Praxisbeispiels mit den Chancen und Herausforderungen der digitalen Bildung im Kontext der Hochschullehre. In Form eines Projektberichts wird das Format einer 'Forschungswerkstatt zur Erstellung einer Digitalen Edition' vorgestellt. In diesem Lehr-Lern-Versuch wurde den Studierenden anhand einer engen Theorie-Praxis-Verzahnung die methodische Herangehensweise für die digitale Aufbereitung von Quellenmaterial vermittelt. Als thematische Grundlage wurde der Umgang mit 'Tod und Sterben' in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit gewählt. Die Studierenden (ab dem 4. Semester) befassten sich mit Leichenpredigten, Autobiographien und Familienbucheinträgen und untersuchten anhand ausgewählter Beispiele die Aussagemöglichkeiten und -grenzen dieser Quellen für das Seminarthema. Dazu bereiteten sie Auszüge aus handschriftlichen, nicht-edierten Quellen inhaltlich und formal auf, nahmen eigenständig Recherchen und Transkriptionen vor und bereitet...

Although tukdam-a meditative state entered through various practices resting in extremely subtle consciousness while dying-is seen to only be achieved by adept practitioners, the philosophy and psychology that underpin tukdam inform Tibetan communities beyond just accomplished adepts and frame the very way death and dying is conceived. Based on an 18-month ethnographic study, this article explores the significance of death as a Tibetan Buddhist cultural-reference that offers a moral heuristic ground for adaptive methods in transforming orientations to self and others and in cultivating compassion and resilience. Tibetan Buddhist practitioners emphasize a strong correlation between a true understanding of self and sustained happiness. This article thus asks a dual conceptual question: (1) Why do Tibetans believe that meditating on death is the key to experiences of well-being in their day-today life? (2) What is the relation between the temporalities of the meditated death and that of the day-today life? Furthermore, the article proposes that Tibetan Buddhist practices that culminate in tukdam symbolize the way death and dying is assumed to be approached more broadly beyond advanced practitioners, and thereby, provides a cultural model for an "ideal" death that guides approaches to dying for oneself and others.

This article offers a psycho-spiritual and ontological critique of the growing support for assisted dying, examining the ethical, metaphysical, and existential consequences of legalising such practices through the lens of Gurmat (the wisdom of the Sikh Gurus). It challenges the mainstream narrative that equates compassion with the alleviation of suffering through death, arguing instead that much of this ‘compassion’ is ego-driven—motivated by the discomfort of observers rather than the spiritual welfare of the dying. Drawing upon Gurmat principles of Hukam (Divine Order), Dharma (cosmic duty), and karma (causal unfolding), the article asserts that suffering plays a vital role in the evolution of consciousness and that life should not be terminated prematurely, as it interrupts the soul’s ontological journey. Supported by contemporary research on near-death experiences (NDEs), reincarnation, and consciousness studies, the article highlights the continuity of awareness beyond physical death and warns of the karmic and psycho-spiritual implications of assisted suicide. It further critiques the manipulative use of language in public discourse—terms like "dignity," "choice," and "compassion"—which conceal deeper ontological violations. The article concludes that true compassion lies not in ending life but in walking with the dying through suffering with presence, love, and alignment to Hukam, thereby honouring the sacredness of both life and death.

In a recent paper on ketamine and the near-death experience (NDE), Scott Rogo (1984) cited Stanislav Grof and Joan Halifax and myself as responsible for an interpretation of NDEs that uses the concept of "archetypes". After a two-sentence statement of the archetype explanation, Rogo wrote: "The problem with this theory is that it could be called a 'non-theory,' since it explains one unknown by another (i.e., worldwide archetypes)" (p. 94). I cannot speak for

The experience of mourning is a multifaceted and deeply personal journey, deeply influenced by a multitude of emotions. Among these emotions, guilt and shame often emerge as intertwined feelings that significantly affect the mourning process, especially after the death of a family member. As individuals sail the complexities of loss, feelings of guilt can arise from a variety of sources, including failed faults in the fulfillment of family papers, unfulfilled expectations or deceased -related regrets. These emotions, although natural, can complicate and prolong the mourning process, leading to potentially harmful effects on mental health and general confrontation mechanisms (LI et al., 2014; STROEBE et al., 2014).

    The guilt, often described as an emotional response to the belief that someone has caused damage or failed to act morally acceptable, can manifest in various ways during pain. For example, a bereaved individual can deal with feelings of guilt for not spending enough time on the deceased, having expressed anger during previous conversations or for inadvertently prioritizing his own needs about those of his loved one during his last days. These internalized beliefs can create widespread sense of responsibility for loss, leading to a prolonged and complicated period of mourning (LI et al., 2014).

Ibrida, transculturale, capace di travalicare epoche e confini geografici: la rappresentazione dell'aldilà è una costante di lunghissima durata, che nella storia della cultura ha conosciuto infinite declinazioni e manifestazioni. Le varianti di questo ricchissimo territorio dell'immaginario, legate ovviamente al mutare delle realtà e dei periodi storici di riferimento, possono essere lette anche come un'ulteriore conferma del fatto che l'aldilà non ha smessoalmeno da quando gli esseri umani hanno iniziato a interrogarsi sulla possibilità di una vita dopo la mortedi generare speculazioni filosofiche e dottrinali, dibattiti, contrasti anche drammatici, invenzioni e in generale narrazioni tradotte in uno sterminato repertorio di forme artistiche. Dalla pittura alla letteratura, dal teatro al cinema alle arti performative, l'esistenza di un mondo o, meglio, di mondi ultraterreni, continua a essere un tema affascinante, che da Omero fino alle più recenti soluzioni post e ipermoderne (solo per limitarsi alla cultura occidentale) ha calamitato un'attenzione pressoché continua. D'altra parte, per quanto legata a codici e convenzioni più o meno latamente spirituali, la dimensione dell'aldilà non è appannaggio esclusivo della sfera religiosa: in questa prospettiva, il concetto di afterworld, nella sua inevitabile elasticità, suggerisce una dimensione plurima e sfaccettata, spesso rivisitatae non solo nella contemporaneitàin chiave laica e immanente. Basta pensare, per fare solo qualche esempio tra i molti possibili, alla fitta schiera di abitanti che popolano l'immaginario mitologico e folklorico, per non parlare della gamma, se non altrettanto nutrita comunque assai vasta, di figure ibride o intermedie, capaci di mettere in crisi l'opposizione binaria tra la vita e la morte suggerita dal senso comune: spettri, vampiri, zombie e in generale revenants di cui la tradizione letteraria è decisamente ricca. O, ancora, possiamo guardare alla dimensione spaziale: non è affatto un caso che l'aldilà sia stato spesso pensato e raffigurato appunto come un vero e proprio territorio, un mondo possibile cheal pari della fictionè dotato di regole di funzionamento specifiche. Un mondo che ha conosciuto, specialmente nelle sue manifestazioni virtuali e digitali, moltiplicazioni ed espansioni vertiginose negli ultimi decenni. Proprio da quest'ultimo aspetto prende le mosse un itinerario, quello del numero 6 di «ECHO», che si propone di esploraresenza alcuna pretesa di esaustività-l'affascinante e variegata dimensione degli afterwolds, con un'attenzione specifica alle diverse raffigurazioni e comunicazioni del tema nelle arti. Il numero, seguendo una progressione cronologica dall'antichità all'ipercontemporaneo, si è proposto infatti di aprire delle nuove finestre di dialogo sulle concezioni degli aldilà. L'aldilà digitale è l'argomento della seconda introduzione di Davide Sisto e dei contributi di Carlotta Susca e Anna Chiara Corradino che aprono e chiudono un percorso che comprende, al suo interno, un campionario rappresentativo di testi, autori, codici e generi diversi. Il numero non trascura infatti la ripresa di elementi già presenti nell'antichità classica: tavole cretesi (Antonio Pio di Cosmo), escerti porfiriani (Andrea Filoni), poesia di epoca medievale di diverse tradizioni linguistiche e culturali; e ancora il novel ottocentesco (Angelo Monaco su George Eliot), il modo fantastico, il Life after death is a fiction. It imagines a world other than our own […] Fiction is also a kind of life after death and, in contemporary culture, the afterlife finds its most pervasive and diverse manifestations in the forms of narrative fiction. A. BENNETT Afterworlds. Comunicazione e rappresentazione dell'aldilà. Introduzione Echo 6, 2024 II romanzo d'avventura moderno (Simone Carati) e i più sperimentali esiti novecenteschi (Fabiana Cecamore su Giorgio Manganelli, Milica Marinkovic su Anne Hébert e Stefania Rutigliano su Isaac Bashevis Singer), sono alcuni degli elementi che compongono un puzzle sfaccettato, capace di comunicare almeno un assaggio dell'ampiezza e della complessità del tema al centro del volume. Una pluralità che, come da tradizione di ECHO, si riflette anche nella composizione del numero. La sezione focus, riservata ai contributi di giovani studiosi e studiose in formazione, affianca una parte dedicata a saggi più estesi e strutturati, andando a delineare la facies più spiccatamente teorica del volume, nei contributi di Maria Ruggero, Marta Romagnoli, Valentina Monateri ed Anna Caterino. Una traduzione a tema infero dai Mystères medievali (e relativo commento) a cura di Susanna Scavello insieme a interviste e riflessioni di performativi restituiscono invece una dimensione maggiormente creativa ma altrettanto rigorosa, aprendo spazi verso concezioni di bioetica, antropocentrismo e performance artistica (nelle discussioni tra Anna Chiara Corradino e Margherita Pevere su Lament e negli scambi curati da Filippo Bosco con Tim Plamper e Alessandro Di Pietro). Due recensioni di saggi critici di recente pubblicazione, infine, confermano, da un'altra angolatura, la vitalità del tema degli afterworlds, oltre all'interesse che continua a esercitare anche tra gli studiosi. La metafora del territorio, e quindi dello spazio, si riflette inoltre, come anticipato, nell'ampiezza geografico-culturale toccata dai contributi di un numero di rivista che, in questo caso specifico, assume un taglio più marcatamente comparatistico. Grecia antica e mondo celtico, epoca vittoriana e modernismo, America latina e folklore ebraico (anche qui per menzionarne solo alcuni) sono da un lato realtà distanti e anche profondamente diverse, dall'altro accomunate da una riflessione multiforme su ciò che, per definizione, sta sulla soglia o oltre di essa. Il risultato suggerisce non solo che la sfida è complessa e del tutto aperta, ma anche che spingersi oltre gli steccati disciplinari, pur senza rinnegareanzi valorizzandola specificità dei diversi campi di pertinenza significa aprire orizzonti imprevisti, e in fondo riscoprire uno dei significati della teoria letteraria di cui, senza addentrarci qui nelle imponenti trasformazioni che attraversano gli studi letterari e culturali oggi, dovremmo provare a fare tesoro: la possibilità di vedere ciò che altrimenti rimarrebbe nascosto, e che, una volta svelato, arricchisce notevolmente la nostra esperienza della letteratura.

Many studies have addressed the issue of deviance from a funerary “norm”, focusing on specific chronological periods. But the absence of any funerary treatment is underestimated in archaeological contexts and still unexplored, even though it may contribute to discussions on the functioning of past societies. Drawing on numerous cross-cultural examples through an interdisciplinary and transchronological approach, our project addresses three lines of research: the causes of an absence of funerary rites, the treatment of the remains concerned and the archaeological signature of this treatment. We have shown, among other things, that for “bad deaths”, the same causes can lead to either a total absence or an alteration of funerary rites. Furthermore, a “positive” treatment of the remains of certain individuals for whom there is no prescribed funerary treatment raises the question of the value of such a practice. It has also become clear that no treatment of the corpse is specific to the absence of funerary rites, even if some treatments are frequently correlated with an absence of rites. Finally, we propose an aid to identify, label and interpret archaeological cases whose characteristics deviate from the variability of known funerary practices for a given context.

[Part 2 of 13]

The Path of Holiness, or the Way of Initiation, allows souls to reach the level of the Master of Wisdom in a short series of lives. This path involves five Initiations conferred by the “Great White Lodge,” leading to conscious unity with the universal life and the ability to guide others. The first Initiation, Sohan, grants the experience of unity with the universal life, while subsequent Initiations, Sakurtagamin and Anagamin, aim for liberation and the ability to return to the physical world at will.

The Gospel story symbolizes the five Initiations of the Path of Perfection, representing the journey of every soul towards union with the Supreme. Francis Bacon, known as Lord Verulam and Viscount St. Alban, was believed to be an Initiate of the Great White Lodge, as discovered through investigations of his past lives. This revelation led to the belief that Bacon, in a previous life, was the Count St. Germain, a prominent occultist of the 18th century.

En este capítulo proponemos analizar -desde una posición interesada por la materialidad- las experiencias asociadas al proceso que involucró la muerte en el marco de la tradición indígena Selk´nam de Tierra del Fuego. Específicamente, intentamos aproximarnos a las formas en que las diversas instancias que conformaron dicho proceso pusieron en juego "modos somáticos de atención" culturalmente específicos, que entrelazaron intercorporalmente -mediante la sensorialidad y la afectividad- a los moribundos-fallecidos y a los circunstantes-supérstites en contextos donde también se hicieron co-presentes otros elementos materiales. Para ello analizamos un conjunto de referencias brindadas por Martín Gusinde en el desarrollo de su labor etnográfica entre los Selk´nam. Los resultados obtenidos nos permiten reflexionar sobre los sentidos que los indígenas pudieron asociar a la materialidad de la muerte, y a la memoria y el olvido de los difuntos.

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In this chapter, we examine the experiences surrounding death within the indigenous Selk'nam tradition of Tierra del Fuego, adopting a perspective that emphasizes materiality. Specifically, we explore how different stages of this process engaged culturally specific somatic modes of attention, interweaving the dying and deceased with the bystanders and survivors through sensory and affective dimensions. These interactions unfolded in contexts where material elements were also co-present and played an active role. To this end, we analyze references provided by Martín Gusinde in his ethnographic work among the Selk'nam. Our findings offer insights into the meanings the Selk'nam may have attributed to the materiality of death, as well as to the memory and forgetting of the deceased.

Among the documents collected in the New Testament, 1 Peter is the most revealing about the process of identity formation. This chapter reexamines the exhortation to Christian wives in 1 Peter 3:1-6 through two lenses: the experiences of first-century Christian women addressed in 1 Peter who are married to non-Christian men and that of Asian immigrant women in interracial marriages. The author of 1 Peter offers his women readers a strategy of minimizing unnecessary suspicion and criticism from their husbands and disrupting stereotypes associated with Christians in general and Christian women in particular. While 1 Peter's address to wives in mixed marriages serves both an apologetic and missionary function in response to outside criticism, it also serves an identity-forming function as the author seeks to strengthen ingroup cohesion among his readers and their capacity to cope with prejudice, conflict, and hostility within the domestic sphere. By characterizing gentile Christian wives as "children of Sarah" (3:6), 1 Peter offers wives a means to elevate their status as children of Sarah irrespective of their husbands' opinion of them or conversion to their religion. The author inscribes them into the great Jewish matriarch's genealogy to remind them of their elect status as God's chosen, royal, holy people (2:9-10) that is not based on shared bloodlines but on shared belief and behavior. The uniquely intersectional experiences of Asian American women who are married to white American men offers insights into the ways the author

For Rafa Calles/Ralph Sprenkels I. Your body is jolting, braced and turning, an engine stalled. Your brain, oh, my sweetest brother, those machines are scanning it for movement. Sixteen days in the ICU. We kiss your skin between electrodes. Your curls in our fingers, unwrapping.

The author provides a detailed analysis of the phenomenon of the "rainbow body" (Tib. འཇའ་ལུ་, ja lus), a significant religious and cultural feature unique to Tibet. Drawing on literature from Buddhist and Bön tradition teachers, modern Western scholarship, and eyewitness accounts, the study classifies the phenomenon and outlines a list of characteristics distinguishing the process of a yogin's realization of the rainbow body. The research examines perspectives from both contemporary tradition-bearers and Western authors regarding historical debates on the sources of knowledge about the rainbow body, scientific studies of the phenomenon, and archaeological findings. The article explores modern references to advanced practices of Dzogchen teachings, such as trekchö and tögal, employed by masters to attain this state. It briefly describes types of dematerialization and their connection to postmortem states of Buddhist monks.

The key conclusion of the study is that the "rainbow body" phenomenon, which attracts significant interest from Western researchers, remains unique to the Dzogchen tradition in contemporary intellectual discourse, despite its potential syncretic nature and the fact that dematerialization or the emergence of a "light body" is described in many global religious and spiritual traditions. The study establishes that the concepts of "rainbow body" and "light body" are not equivalent in the Tibetan understanding. It identifies factors necessary for developing a comprehensive methodology to research the phenomenon and verify its authenticity. The results are significant both for a deeper understanding of one of Tibetan Buddhism's key phenomena and for studying interconnections between religious practices across the traditions.

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

In het leven is niets zeker, behalve de dood. En de hoeveel tijd tot dat onvermijdelijke einde is onzeker. In het dagelijkse bestaan, de politiek, de wetenschap en niet de laatste plaats de kunst is de dood of de mogelijkheid hiervan dan ook een centraal thema. Onderzoek naar de dood leidt echter altijd weer naar de levenden. Wat daarbij het meeste opvalt, is de grote verscheidenheid en tegenstrijdigheid ten aanzien van het beeld en de houding die de levenden rondom de dood en daarmee hun eigen bestaan hebben. Een verkenning door de denkwereld der levenden hierover roept vragen waarop wellicht alleen de doden echt een antwoord hebben.

Het artikel is een samenvatting van een lezing die werd gegeven voor Qua Art Qua Science op 7 maart 2023 in de Museumfabriek te Enschede.

Lossio, Jorge. Pandemias y salud pública: Historias de cuarentenas y vacunaciones. 1.ª ed. digital, Lima, Ministerio de
Cultura, Proyecto Especial Bicentenario de la Independencia del Perú, 2021. Bicentenario Perú 2024, https://bicentenario.gob.pe/biblioteca/detalle-libro/pandemias-y-salud-publica-historia-de-cuarentenas-y-vacunacion

Spätestens seit Sokrates war der Tod und die Todesfurcht ein Thema praktisch aller Moralphilosophen der griechisch-römischen Antike. Da Sokrates sowohl das Todesurteil als auch die Vollstreckung desselben ohne erkennbaren emotionalen Zusammenbruch akzeptierte und selbst die Möglichkeit zur Flucht, die ihn vor der Todesstrafe bewahrt hätte, ausschlug, galt Sokrates als Vorbild dafür, wie man furchtlos dem Tod begegnet. Für die nachfolgenden Philosophen bedeutete das eine doppelte Herausforderung: Welche theoretische Annahmen über den Tod muss man machen, um die

Two central questions addressed in this volume are why women in many cultural settings often seem to accept or accommodate patriarchal beliefs and practices that are harmful to them and why women often seem to be complicit in their own exploitation. The chapters by Manago and Khurshid link the values children acquire in extended patrilocal households to broader concepts of family honor. Daughters are expected to maintain that honor by behaving modestly and obediently, being sexually circumspect, and accepting the choices made by parents for their marriages. Daughters who fail to do these things bring shame to the family, and therefore young women's behaviors are monitored by family members, who may chastise and punish them for infractions or reward compliance with more behavioral latitude. In rural agrarian settings, the community also plays a role in reinforcing compliance with values of honor and shame by using gossip about women's bad behaviors to cast aspersions on the families that should be controlling them and on the women themselves. In this chapter, I bring into the discussion another important factor influencing women's accommodations to patriarchy. In some contexts, women's choices and behaviors are also regulated by specific patriarchal value systems that transcend individual families and cut across ethnic, religious, and national beliefs. Specifically, I draw parallels between two seemingly unrelated corners of the world and compare rape culture, particularly as found on US college campuses, with kidnap culture, as practiced in parts of Central Asia. Although the cultural settings might be quite different, the comparison between these two cases provides a useful exercise for understanding the dynamics of patriarchy as a system that constrains women's choices, erases their sense of active agency, and harms them psychologically and physically. In order to understand the choices that women make and the psychological impacts of these practices, 211

Recent developments in healthcare service delivery in Western society have resulted in more people being cared for outside of hospitals . The World Palliative Care Alliance estimates there are 9 million family carers worldwide . Family caregivers represent the backbone of health and social care delivery globally . As healthcare moves from acute settings and into homes, the role of caregiver becomes more critical and the burden becomes heavier .

In this paper I review the documentary 'Addicted to life'. I consider some of the implications that can be drawn from this documentary for how we might approach Euthanasia and death more generally. And I discuss the relationship between euthanasia and suicide, with some reference to Foucault's notion of 'biopower'.

This article aims to add a further perspective to the discussion of the relationship between
film and ethics. This perspective is important in today’s context, as the omnipresence of digital and
mobile audiovisual images in everyday life increasingly determines our thinking and behaviour.
However, there is a lack of appropriate critical reflection and ethical understanding of these images
and their ontology. This article proposes a machine ethics of film from a film-philosophical perspective.
Such an ethics draws on critical posthumanism, namely on Karen Barad’s “ethics of mattering”,
which explicitly relates to Emmanuel Levinas’ philosophy of the Other and their death. Thereby,
special attention is given to the ontological nexus of film and death, as well as to the idea of film’s
spectrality (drawing on, e.g., Derrida, Barthes, and Leutrat), a context that is discussed along with
Barad’s diffractive view on quantum entanglement. Following from the author’s earlier approaches
to Barad’s agential realism in the context of film-philosophy and certain Heidegger-based arguments
set out in earlier writings about film and death, this article introduces the figure of what is called the
“machinic spectre of film”. From here, the outline of a possible spectral ethics of film is considered by
giving reasons for the exploration of further questions.

Apresentam-se narrativas de uma instituição de saúde de Portugal, de profissionais de saúde que lá laboram. Elas retratam estilos deste tipo de instituição. Alicerçam-se no paradigma de produtividade e de excelência, mas também nos fazem pensar em modos de vida alternativos dentro desse mesmo espaço. Palavras-chave: estilos de vida; narrativa; sentido interno de coerência; recursos gerais de resistência; salutogenesis.

REFERENCE:

Baril, A. (2023). Undoing Suicidism: A trans, queer, crip approach to rethinking (assisted) suicide, Foreword by Robert McRuer, Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 335 pages. Open access at https://temple.manifoldapp.org/projects/undoing-suicidism

ABSTRACT CHAPTER 3:

Anchored in the framework presented in the first chapter, Chapter 3 proposes a cripping and maddening of suicidality by highlighting forms of ableism/sanism in critical suicidology and inviting disability/crip/Mad studies to engage critically with suicidality instead of simply casting it as a by-product of ableism/sanism. In the first of the three sections of this chapter, I show that, contrary to queer and trans activists/scholars who are vocal about LGBTQ suicidality but silent on assisted suicide, disabled/Mad activists/ scholars remain relatively silent on suicidality but engage with the topic of assisted suicide in reaction to neoliberal governments’ ableist/sanist laws on assisted suicide. While most disabled/Mad activists/scholars rightly see the availability of assisted suicide only for disabled/sick/ill/Mad/old people as the worst possible manifestation of ableism and sanism, a few disabled activists/scholars argue in favor of assisted suicide for terminally ill and disabled people. Despite fierce disagreements between those two camps, these activists/scholars do not question compulsory aliveness and continue to reaffirm the necessity of preventing suicide in the case of suicidal people and to adhere to the injunction to live and to futurity. The second section explores two venues for alternative discourses on suicidality: the webzine Mad in America and the disability justice movement. While these activists/scholars propose innovative approaches to suicidality, highlighting the ableist/sanist ideologies and structures behind coercive suicide prevention measures, they do not propose positive rights for suicidal people. Their solutions, such as stopping nonconsensual interventions and forced treatments, constitute a first step in the right direction to combat suicidist regimes, yet they remain incomplete with respect to suicidal people’s needs. In the last section, inspired by cripistemologies and by disabled/crip/Mad authors who put forth what I call the socio-subjective model of disability, I use this alternative model to rethink suicidality. The socio-subjective model recognizes the subjective suffering caused by physical or mental disability/illness (depression, anxiety, and so forth) while avoiding forms of sanism that would invalidate the ability of suicidal people to choose suicide based on their mental disability/illness. The model also recognizes that subjective experiences cannot be lived outside social contexts and therefore is firmly rooted in a social justice framework. Whereas the first three chapters are focused on suicide, the last two chapters redirect the focus toward assisted suicide.

If Epicurean arguments for the harmlessness of death are successful, then they also successfully undermine a common justification for physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, and the termination of hopeless pregnancies that I call the "Mercy Intuition", according to which by ending the life of a suffering loved one for whom there is little to no chance of recovery, we are relieving that person of her suffering, and thus providing a great benefit to her. For, if death is not a harm to the person who dies, then it cannot be a benefit to her either, even in cases of intense and prolonged suffering. Along these lines, in this paper, I defend the claim that death cannot provide a benefit to those who are suffering. I begin by highlighting the Epicurean foundations of the argument, focusing on three main Epicurean arguments for the harmlessness of death and their no-benefit analogues. I then move on to explore several important limitations of the argument, which make available a number of strategies for avoiding its conclusion. Along the way, I respond to each of these avoidance strategies. I conclude that even granting several of its limitations, the argument still poses a serious challenge to the Mercy Intuition.

La presente disertación aborda las ambigüedades de la edad de la figura de san José en su lecho de muerte presente en la iconografía barroca latinoamericana. Enmarcada en una investigación más amplia sobre la muerte y el morir en Latinoamérica durante la época barroca, esta ponencia describe y analiza cómo las expresiones barrocas lograron propagar y reforzar un modelo de buena muerte mediante la figura de san José durante el siglo XVII y XVIII. A pesar de que dicho modelo contemplaba a un san José enfermo y viejo en su lecho de muerte después de una vida criando y protegiendo al infante Jesús, en algunas representaciones iconográficas latinoamericanas se presentaba como un hombre joven de mediana edad. Así que nos preguntamos ¿por qué y para qué pudo haber sido significativa esta ambigüedad sobre la edad de muerte de José de Nazaret en el barroco latinoamericano? Para brindar algunas respuestas a estas interrogantes se utilizó la perspectiva de la Antropología Histórica, mediante la cual se analizaron e interpretaron fuentes iconográficas sobre la muerte de san José, además de fuentes documentales como ciertos Ars Moriendi, tratados sobre pintura y libros devocionales dedicados a san José que fueron producidos y circularon a finales de la época colonial en América.

The Tiwa community, also known as Lalung, is an indigenous ethnic group primarily found in Assam and Meghalaya in Northeast India. They are known for their rich cultural heritage, including a distinct language, unique socio-religious practices, and a vibrant history. This article explores the origins, cultural evolution, socio-political structure, and current issues facing by the Tiwa community. This paper will provide a comprehensive understanding of the Tiwa Tribe’s history, geographical settlement, religious belief, cultural practices, and the significance of their folk festival in strengthening social integrity in Assam.

Heavenly Prospects: Psilocybin-Induced Death and God Encounters Compared

Dr. Lucas Pawlik's presentation explores the relationship between psilocybin-induced mystical experiences, near-death experiences (NDEs), and divine encounters. It compares field reports and results from over a century of scientific research, demonstrating how psilocybin has validated mystical experiences and enhanced non-psychedelic mystical experience research.
The talk provides an overview of key findings in psilocybin research, showcasing its ability to reliably induce mystical experiences comparable to classical religious contexts. By comparing field reports from psilocybin studies with those of spontaneous mystical experiences, the presentation highlights the wide-ranging therapeutic and personal impacts observed in both contexts. These comparative analyses reopen debates about whether these experiences are hallucinations or genuine epistemological phenomena.
Two critical comparative studies, which analyze field reports and quantitative data, are highlighted:
1. Sweeney et al. (2022) examined psilocybin-induced experiences and spontaneous NDEs. Comparing field reports and survey results, they found both types improved well-being, life purpose, and meaning. Psychedelic experiences showed stronger mystical and near-death measures, while non-drug experiences were often rated as life's most significant events. Both led to changes in death attitudes, reduced anxieties and fostered positive views on life and dying.
2. Griffiths et al. (2019) compared field reports of natural and psychedelic-induced God encounters. Both types decreased atheist self-identification, with over two-thirds of former atheists changing views post-experience. Analysis of reports showed non-drug groups often used "God" to describe encounters, while psychedelic groups preferred "Ultimate Reality." Despite these linguistic differences, the transformative nature was similar across groups.
Dr. Pawlik's personal near-death and psilocybin experiences, including divine light encounters typical for atheists, provide additional field reports for comparison. His perspective as an autistic science philosopher adds a unique dimension, as NDEs have only been documented in autistic children, and psilocybin's effects on autistic individuals remain largely unexplored. Dr. Pawlik's academic background further enriches this perspective: his master's thesis explored the relationship between empirical knowledge, everyday experience, and epiphanies, such as the sacrament of Jesus Christ. His doctoral thesis delved into the meaning of Eastern mysticism within the context of system sciences, quantum physics, and cybernetics.
The presentation emphasizes the therapeutic potential revealed by comparing field reports of psilocybin and spontaneous mystical experiences. It discusses integrating these insights into palliative care to ease dying and comfort patients and families, including exploring shared death experiences.
Dr. Pawlik argues that recognizing mystical experiences is crucial for individual and societal health. Comparative studies of field reports indicate that inadequate societal handling has negative consequences, necessitating an end to their pathologization.
Participants gain insights into:
* Scientific validation of mystical experiences through field report comparisons
* Therapeutic potential of psilocybin revealed by comparative analyses
* The transformative power of near-death and God encounters across contexts
* Unique perspectives from autistic individuals' field reports
* Importance of integrating these experiences into palliative care
The presentation aims to improve the quality of life for those with life-threatening illnesses by fostering an understanding of these profound experiences and their potential applications, as evidenced by diverse field reports and research results.

The essays in this volume explore some of the many ways in which death in its practical and devotional aspects impinged on the lives of medieval people, men and women, rich and poor, both in England and in continental Europe. Underlying and linking the papers is the medieval preoccupation with the transitory nature of life and the fear of sudden death. A study of the text and illumination of the famous 11th-century Tiberius Psalter in the British Library begins the book. Two essays follow about sudden death, mainly murder, in London and Bologna. In the first of three literary papers, purgatory is discussed in the context of the Compileison, an influential but little-known prose treatise; the second concentrates on the diverse ways death is treated in late medieval English verse, and the third on ‘Laments’, verse elegies for eminent people in manuscript and print. In his last Harlaxton paper, the late Clive Burgess proposed a new perspective on English parish chantries, suggesting that as well as caring for the salvation of individual souls, chantries meant extra priests, vessels and vestments, benefitting the Church as a whole. On a different scale, written and visual sources allow for a close look at the richly endowed perpetual chantries established by Isabella of Portugal, third wife of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, in Carthusian houses. Funerals and wills are illustrated by the state funeral in Florence of the condottiere, Niccolò da Tolentino, by the funeral palls of Henry VII, and by the complex and exceptionally well-documented story of the execution of the will of Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote in Warwickshire, who died in 1525. Monuments commemorating the medieval dead are represented by a splendid but now lost tomb in Bruges, and by a chantry chapel in Hexham Abbey, the source of the painting illustrated above.

Background: The practice of mercy killing, also known as euthnasia or assisted suicide, is a contentious and morally complex issue in healthcare. Understanding the ethical dilemmas related to mercy killing within specific religious communities, such as Maranao Muslims, can provide valuable insights into the intersection of faith, culture, and healthcare decision-making. This study aimed to explore the practice of mercy killing among Muslim Maranao nurses in the critical care setting. Methods: A qualitative research design based on descriptive phenomenology and criterion sampling was used to select 10 Muslim Maranao nurses with at least five years of working experience in intensive care units (ICUs) in the southern Philippines. In-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with the participants and Colizzi's thematic analysis was employed to analyze the obtained data. Results: Thematic analysis revealed three main themes with three corresponding subthemes: Religious beliefs (Islamic teachings, religious duties and moral responsibility), cultural norms (community values, stigma and taboo, sense of identity), and professional ethics (duty to the patient, team collaboration and ethical considerations). Conclusion: The perspectives of Muslim Maranao nurses on mercy killing are strongly influenced by their religious beliefs, cultural norms and professional ethics. Islamic teachings guide their rejection of mercy killing, emphasizing compassionate care and respect for the natural course of life. Family and community values, fear of social judgment and the preservation of cultural identity shape their perspectives. Professional ethics highlight their commitment to patient well-being, autonomy, and collaborative decision-making. Culturally sensitive and ethically sound healthcare practices are essential, and ongoing dialogue, education and policy development are needed to address the complexities surrounding mercy killing within specific cultural and religious contexts.

This article analyzes Kierkegaard’s upbuilding discourse “At a Graveside” in three steps. First, I unpack Kierkegaard’s claim that death must be approached with “seriousness” (Alvor). Here I show that he understands that term as the modality in which we perceive things in themselves, independent of their relations in the world. Second, I analyze Kierkegaard’s description of the three moments of death – death as decisive, indefinable, and inexplicable – and illustrate how Kierkegaard conceives of world as the temporal horizons of future, present, and past. Each of these dimensions is structured according to a different modal category – possibility, actuality, and necessity, respectively – which is disrupted by death’s arrival. Third, I show how Kierkegaard not only thinks of Alvor as the disruption of the modalities of our world, but also as the opening up of a different relation in which things can appear to us, the relation that they hold “for God.” I contextualize this idea through Heidegger’s late philosophy in order to suggest that Kierkegaard thinks death as a means to access a modality of being outside the time of human projects.

Introduction: In case of untreatable suffering at the end of life, continuous sedation until death (CSD) may be the only treatment option left. Because these patients cannot communicate anymore, caregivers have to rely on behavioral observation to assess the patient's comfort. Recently, however, a number of studies from the neurosciences have shown that sometimes consciousness and pain are undetectable with these traditional behavioral methods. The aim of this study was to find out if subjective caregiver assessments of consciousness and pain would be confirmed by objective neurophysiological measures. Methods: In this prospective observational study, we observed patients from the start of palliative sedation until death. Subjective caregiver assessments of level of consciousness and pain based on behavioral observations were compared with objective measures from neurophysiological monitoring devices. Results: We collected and analyzed 108 subjective caregiver assessments in a sample of 12 patients and 32 assessments by traditionally used observational scales. We compared these with objective neurophysiological measures. Sensitivity and specificity of caregivers' subjective assessments of consciousness was 23.6 and 91.1% respectively, with an accuracy of 54.0% and interrater reliability (j) of 0.13. For pain, this was 0 and 94.79%, respectively, an accuracy of 88%, and an inter-rater reliability (j) of-0.063. Agreement between caregivers' subjective assessments and objective neurophysiological measures of consciousness and pain was very poor. Conclusions: Caregivers' subjective assessment of level of consciousness and pain during CSD is unreliable compared with objective neurophysiological monitoring. Our results suggest that assessments of patient comfort during CSD could have been improved substantially by including objective monitoring of level of consciousness and pain.

This final episode of a series on ‗Figurational social and cultural sciences‘ revisits in a special way the shortcomings of figurational scholars in explaining and applying one of their core concepts of Norbert Elias‘s theories, namely the concept of homo clausus self-experience. Elias‘ advice was to investigate whether the skin in humans is the ‗frontier‘ between ‗inside‘ and ‗outside.‘ Physiologist and anthropologist Hans Friedenthal had already initiated such research in the past. Discussion of his work leads to a historiography of the research work of Hermann Klaatsch, Otto Hauser, Eugen Fischer, Hans Weinert and Johan Goudsblom on ideas about human ‗naked‘ skin and the use and control of fire (and smoke) in anthropogenesis. The concluding paragraph about Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt‘s research of the !Ko people actually holds up a mirror to us: we must investigate the physiogenesis of homo clausus self-experiences of
contemporary people in Western European societies.

Objectives: Exploring the experiences, perceptions and meanings of family members and close friends of Israeli individuals who sought aid-in-dying outside Israel. Methods: Using the phenomenological-interpretive approach, a qualitative research design was employed, based on ten in-depth semi-structured interviews with Israelis who had provided support for a relative who embarked on suicide tourism. Results: The following five themes emerged from interviews: (1) facilitators for supporting an individual requesting suicide tourism; (2) choosing death and actively making the decision to die; (3) the meaning of traveling to die; (4) offering support throughout the process; and (5) facilitating procedures after death. Conclusion: The participants spoke of the active role that they played in their relative's suicide-tourism journey. They conveyed conflicting emotions and values regarding the decision at hand, the ability to say goodbye thanks to their pre-planned death, helping to reduce their suffering and burden, and dealing with the challenge of disclosing the deceased's plans, before and after the act, as well as their own involvement in the process. Relatives of suicide-tourism patients should receive professional support during and following this difficult process.

With an increasingly ageing population there will be a rising demand for palliative care, including from older migrants and ethnic minorities. While many (future) physicians are unfamiliar with specific needs of older migrants and ethnic minorities regarding care and communication in palliative care, this may be challenging for them to deal with. Moreover, even many medical teachers also feel unprepared to teach palliative care and culturally sensitive communication to students. In order to support medical teachers, we suggest twelve tips to teach culturally sensitive palliative care to guide the development and implementation of teaching this topic to medical students. Drawn from literature and our own experiences as teachers, these twelve tips provide practical guidance to both teachers and curriculum designers when designing and implementing education about culturally sensitive palliative care.

Background: Patients suffering from advanced cancer often loose contact with their primary care physician (PCP) during oncologic treatment and palliative care is introduced very late. The aim of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and procedures for a randomized trial of an intervention to teach PCPs a palliative care approach and communication skills to improve advanced cancer patients' quality of life. Methods: Observational pilot study in 5 steps. 1) Recruitment of PCPs. 2) Intervention: training on palliative care competencies and communication skills addressing end-of-life issues. 3) Recruitment of advanced cancer patients by PCPs. 4) Patients follow-up by PCPs, and assessment of their quality of life by a research assistant 5) Feedback from PCPs using a semi-structured focus group and three individual interviews with qualitative deductive theme analysis. Results: Eight PCPs were trained. Patient recruitment was a challenge for PCPs who feared to impose additional loads on their patients. PCPs became more conscious of their role and responsibility during oncologic treatments and felt empowered to take a more active role picking up patient's cues and addressing advance directives. They developed interprofessional collaborations for advance care planning. Overall, they discovered the role to help patients to make decisions for a better end-of-life. Conclusions: While the intervention was acceptable to PCPs, recruitment was a challenge and a follow up trial was not deemed feasible using the current design but PCPs reported a change in paradigm about palliative care. They moved from a focus on helping patients to die better, to a new role helping patients to define the conditions for a better end-of-life. Trial registration: The ethics committee of the canton of Geneva approved the study (2018-00077 Pilot Study) in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Background Patients suffering from advanced cancer often loose contact with their primary care physician (PCP) during oncologic treatment and palliative care is introduced very late. The aim of this pilot study was to test the feasibility and procedures for a randomized trial of an intervention to teach PCPs a palliative care approach and communication skills to improve advanced cancer patients’ quality of life. Methods Observational pilot study in 5 steps. 1) Recruitment of PCPs. 2) Intervention: training on palliative care competencies and communication skills addressing end-of-life issues. 3) Recruitment of advanced cancer patients by PCPs. 4) Patients follow-up by PCPs, and assessment of their quality of life by a research assistant 5) Feedback from PCPs using a semi-structured focus group and three individual interviews with qualitative deductive theme analysis. Results Eight PCPs were trained. Patient recruitment was a challenge for PCPs who feared to impose additional loads o...

This paper offers a nexus of termsmortality, limits, contingency and vulnerabilitypainting a picture of human life as marked by limitation and finitude. I suggest that limitations of possibility, capacity, and resource are deep features of human life, but not only restrict it. Limits are also the conditions of possibility for human life and as such have productive, normative, and creative powers that not only delimit life but also scaffold growth and transformation within it. The paper takes a less known interpretation of the term 'ephēmeros', to mean 'of the day', rather than 'short-lived' and suggests that as ephemeral, human life is contingent and mutable, subject to events beyond our control. However, virtue can still be exercisedindeed, can be exuberantly displayedwhen we respond to contingent events marked by adversity.

The increase of population in urban areas has prompted the search for new incentives for public areas that are easily accessible social interaction. Conservation and provision of green areas is an ongoing challenge for urbanization. Open space in urban areas is always utilized with profit-generating development regardless of social structure. Hence, cemeteries are usually untouched by development activities. The cemetery has unintentionally become a green infrastructure which preserves urban biodiversity, architecture and history. The focus of this paper is to review the implementation of green cemeteries as part of green infrastructure in the urban landscape. This study will review the research carried out by researchers on cemeteries as secondary use since 2016 to present. There are two factors behind the greening of cemeteries in urban areas, namely due to health factors in which local communities consider the cemetery is the cause of the epidemic spread. The second factor is to create harmonious atmosphere for pilgrimages by embellishing the landscape of the cemeteries while honouring the dead. Literature selection is performed carried out using systematic literature review (SLR) with online digital search using selected keywords. The research findings have identified three components discussed from the researchers' study, namely biodiversity, cultural and open space. The features of extensive and landlocked cemeteries in urban areas are indeed desirable for the use of open spaces. In addition, historic cemeteries keeps the tangible cultural architecture of the former societies while preserving nature biodiversity. Overall, the finding which can be addressed here behind the greenery of the cemetery is that the urban landscape can be established by utilising the existing space with a significant intensity on the environment, society and economy.

Public disputes over Islamic cemeteries facilitate place-making processes and encourage a sense of belonging that roots immigrant Muslims in the southeastern landscape. They affirm Islam as a lived experience for Americans who do not share a faith or cultural heritage but live close to and encounter Muslims. Cemetery conflicts that question Muslims’ place in America and attempt to designate them as archaic outsiders with unhygienic practices are a necessary part of a democratic process that enables solidifying the presence and role of Islam in the American future.