Synopses & Reviews
As humans, deathits certainty, its inevitabilityconsumes us. We make it the subject of our literature, our art, our philosophy, and our religion. Our feelings and attitudes toward our mortality and its possible afterlives have evolved greatly from the early days of mankind. Collecting these views in this topical and instructive book, W. M. Spellman considers death and dying from every angle in the Western tradition, exploring how humans understand and come to terms with the end of life.
Using the work of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists, Spellman examines how interpreting physical remains gives us insight into prehistoric perspectives on death. He traces how humans have died over the centuries, both in the causes of death and in the views of actions that lead to death. He spotlights the great philosophical and scientific traditions of the West, which did not believe in an afterlife or see the purpose of bereavement, while also casting new light on the major religious beliefs that emerged in the ancient world, particularly the centuries-long development of Christianity. He delves into three approaches to the meaning of deaththe negation of life, continuity in another form, and agnosticismfrom both religious and secular-scientific perspectives.
Providing a deeper context for contemporary debates over end-of-life issues and the tension between longevity and quality of life, A Brief History of Death is an illuminating look at the complex ways humans face death and the dying.
Review
“After the spate of near-death and out-of-the-body experience books comes this refreshing step back to examine the nature of the death experience culturally, historically, psychologically, and personally. . . . Recommended reading as an antidote to modern life.”
Synopsis
Describing a great variety of funeral ritual from major world religions and from local traditions, this book shows how cultures not only cope with corpses but also create an added value for living through the encouragement of afterlife beliefs. The explosion of interest in death in recent years reflects the key theme of this book - the rhetoric of death - the way cultures use the most potent weapon of words to bring new power to life. This new edition is one third longer than the original with new material on the death of Jesus, the most theorized death ever which offers a useful case study for students. There is also empirical material from contemporary/recent events such as the death of Diana and an expanded section on theories of grief which will make the book more attractive to death counsellors.
Synopsis
Describing a great variety of funeral ritual from major world religions and from local traditions, this book shows how cultures not only cope with corpses but also create an added value for living through the encouragement of afterlife beliefs. The explosion of interest in death in recent years reflects the key theme of this book - the rhetoric of death - the way cultures use the most potent weapon of words to bring new power to life. This new edition is one third longer than the original with new material on the death of Jesus, the most theorized death ever which offers a useful case study for students. There is also empirical material from contemporary/recent events such as the death of Diana and an expanded section on theories of grief which will make the book more attractive to death counsellors.
Synopsis
Describing a variety of funeral ritual, from major world religions and from local traditions, this book shows how cultures cope not only with corpses but also create an added value for living through the growth of afterlife beliefs. The key theme of the book is the rhetoric of death -- the way cultures use the most potent weapon of words to bring new power to life. Human identity and its transformation through mortuary rites is explored through the mummies of Chile and Egypt; African sacrificial deaths; Indian cremations; immigrant cemeteries in the USA; ancestor rites in Eastern religions and Mormonism; and the freezing of the dead in cryonics. Research findings are presented on cremation and afterlife beliefs, especially reincarnation, sensing the presence of the dead, and the death of pets in Britain, to show how mortuary rituals are constantly changing in response to death as a major feature of the human environment.
Synopsis
A Brief History of Death offers a topical survey of views concerning death and its aftermath in the Western tradition from prehistory to the present. It explores how humans understand and come to terms with the fact of mortality, and looks at the physical and social aspects of death, how dying people are treated, how the dying conduct themselves in the knowledge of their approaching demise, and how survivors choose to remember the dead. The book provides a deeper context for contemporary debates over end-of-life issues, especially the emerging tension between longevity and quality of life.
W. M. Spellman examines the work of archaeologists and paleoanthropologists to give insight into pre-historic perspectives on death through the interpretation of physical remains. He spotlights the great philosophical and scientific traditions of the West, or what can be termed the rationalist approach to end-of-life issues. The book also examines the major religious traditions that emerged during the so-called axial” age of the ancient world, focusing particularly on the centuries-long evolution of the Western Christian tradition. Three approaches to the meaning of death: negation of life, continuity in another form, and agnosticism, are examined in both religious and secular-scientific contexts.
About the Author
W. M. Spellman is professor of history and humanities at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He is the author of The Latitudinarians and the Church of England, 1660–1700 (1993) and European Political Thought, 1600–1700 (1998).
Table of Contents
Introduction1 Interpreting death rites2 Coping with corpses: impurity, fertility and fear3 Theories of grief4 Sacrifice, violence and conquest5 Eastern destiny and death6 Ancestors cemeteries and local identities7 Jewish and Islamic destinies8 Christianity and Offending Death9 Symbolic death and rebirth10 Somewhere to die11 Souls and the presence of the dead12 Pet and animal death13 Book, film and building14 Death, and the birth of religions15 Secular death and life