The influence of philosophy on the social construction of death through history

Authors

  • Klelija Štrancar

Abstract

Thinking about death was rather suppressed in the last decades in the Western civilization. Death retreated from public space to the private one as something horrible and meaningless. But it was not always like that. Death wasa part of everyday life, so people talked and thought about it. Therefore we are wondering whether contemporary people’s running away from death is not actually fleeing the reality of life itself? And does not life itself become absurd, senseless and worthless in the light of death? In fact we are talking about the essential question in our lives, and the confirmation or the rejection of the meaning of our existence depends on it. In other words, what should our life and lives of other people mean from the perspective of death and dying? Human beings are being built by memories. Memories are history. If we want to understand our present, we have to build it on our memories – history. If we do not care about history, we are not only deprived of past, but also of present and future. Health workers need a radical revision of the issue of death and dying. Orientation of our action regarding other people depends a great deal on this issue. In this way also our responsibility and sensibility in the field of caring, which is the essence of care for a dying person.

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Published

2006-01-01

How to Cite

Štrancar, K. (2006). The influence of philosophy on the social construction of death through history. Slovenian Nursing Review, 40(1), 3–7. Retrieved from https://obzornik.zbornica-zveza.si/index.php/ObzorZdravNeg/article/view/2570

Issue

Section

Retrospective (archive)