...The topic of death first caught my attention as I am interested in what death means beyond bodily death and how the norms of death are changing because of the internet era. Particularly the way people react to death, the sociology of death and how these have changed the individuals or society in the internet age. In the paper by Walter et al. (2011), they addressed the challenges in the sequestration of death and how the prominence of the internet changes our patterns of grieving for the dead. This writing helps me gain a better understanding of the reaction to death and how these behaviours vary depending on the relationship one has with that dead person. In addition, it also highlights the potential that of overcoming grieving through online forum and their implication. Besides that I am also interested in the sociology of death, the development, structure and how the human society functions with respect to death like in the book by Kearl (1989), it analyses how we are shaped by death, in the sense of discovering our purpose, having our ethos moulded and also how our speech reflects how we view death. In addition to this, I am also keen on know how this sociology concepts are relevant or altered in the internet age which is almost 20 years after the publication of the book by Kearl. This drew such attraction to me as I am currently a nursing student and as a nurse I have to deal with death of patients at some point in my nursing career. Furthermore with my interest in the...
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...Death, an inescapable cycle, death is something no one can escape, it follows like night does day. In Ezekiel J. Emanuel’s article about his hope to die at the age of 75, he argues that you have lived a full life by that age, experienced that which is necessary to have lived a full life, but also that you are no longer of any crucial use to society. He claims that “living too long is also a loss. It renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic.”. I am going to argue against his opinion that after the age of 75, you’re basically useless. The theory that after you surpass the age of 75, you’re basically useless…is a flawed logic, there are so many aspects that pertain to how ‘useless’ you are, for example, arthritis, inflames the joins of the body, it can be any joint, but I will use the knee as my primary example, so if somebody has Osteoarthritis, it could enfeeble somebody to not be able to walk very easily, but just because they can’t walk, doesn’t mean they can’t write, sit and do work, for gods sake with today’s modern technology…that being prosthetic legs and some body parts plus medicine, people could still do things...
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...Euthanasia Originally, the term "physician assisted suicide" meant the provision by a physician of the means of which a suffering, terminally ill patient could initiate his or her death. The "euthanasia" means the killing of a terminally ill person to end his or her suffering. Now, by practice, the term "physician assisted suicide" has been expanded in meaning to include the administration of a lethal substance by a physician to a suffering patient-a form of euthanasia. Thus, physician assisted suicide can now be defined as any action taken by a physician to provide death to a patient. Many people argue that the decision to kill oneself is a private choice which society has no right to be concerned about. This position assumes that suicide results from competent people making autonomous, rational decision to die, and then claims that society has no business "interfering" with a freely chosen life or death decision that harms no one other the suicidal individual. However, according to experts, who have studied several cases on suicide, the basic assumption is wrong. It is very unlikely that someone with serious disability commits suicide. Rather, as society view seriously disabled and terminally ill individuals as burdens with unacceptable quality of life, these persons may feel an obligation to commit suicide. A careful 1974 British study, which involved extensive interviews and examination of medical records, found that 93% of those studied who committed suicide...
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...The root of the philosophical debate on abortion stems from our society’s inability to define death. Without a concrete definition of death, there is no definition of life, therefore there is no way to determine the rights that should be given to a fetus. Due to the nature of the definitions of life and death being considered reciprocals of each other, when one lacks a factor “X”, they are considered dead, conversely, when one obtains factor “X”, they are considered to be alive. Unfortunately, one can not simply ask an individual or fetus if they are dead or alive, therefore we must determine a factor which marks the existence of one human being from the lack of existence of another. For all intensive purposes, I chose to define factor X as cerebral cortex function. Therefore, those who are dead have an irreversible loss of cerebral cortex function, and those who are alive have cerebral cortex function. The beginning of cerebral cortex function, or “brain activity” in a fetus is the point at which abortion should be illegal, on the grounds of killing a human being. In order to understand how I have come to the conclusion that humans are alive once they obtain the factor of brain activity, we must begin with excluding the factors which can not determine if a human is alive. A number of individuals believe that a person is alive once cellular life begins, or when the cells that constitute you begin to grow and divide. The problem with this view is that biology has proven to us...
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...Jenelle Gooden ENG 125 Joseph Hankinson DEATH & IMPERMANENCE August 13, 2013 Death and Impermanence This paper focuses on the similarities and differences of the representation of death and the impermanence in the short story “A Father’s Story” by Andre Dubus, and the poem “Because I could not stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson.” The reader finds two authors who are different, but produces a mental picture of death in the short story and poem. In “A Father’s Story” the main character in the story is the father who ignores his religious belief in order to protect his daughter from the consequences of killing a man with her car. However, in the poem “Because I could not stop for Death,” the author displays how the main character accepted death as a friend and a part of life until the end. The short story discuss the character’s life before it yields into the talk of death; however, the poem talks of death right at the beginning of the poem. The two pieces of literature imply an acceptance of the inevitability of death by both authors. Death, in these two pieces of literature, is more than just absence of the soul from the body. In the poem and the short story, there are three types of death experiences represented: emotional death, spiritual death, and physical death. Exploring these different kinds of death experiences shows similarities and differences between the two pieces of literature. The inevitability of death and the emotions involved are described in both...
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...In discussions about death, ethical issues are often the central point. According to Steffen and Cooley (2014), the ethics of death are odd due to the contrasting concepts of death and ethics. Ethics are most often concerned with actions, and death is not an action, but rather a state of being (Fischer, 1993). Another metaphysical concept of death from Fischer is that “death is the permanent and irreversible cessation of life”. In the case of a nonhuman animal, with the assumption that the animal exists within the same state of existence and state of being in life as a human, cases of death can be justified under some circumstances. In this essay, the topic of discussion will be that death does not harm the animal, with relation to Epicurean...
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...FACING DEATH In defining death, according to Douglas Harper, (2010), Death is the act of dying; the end of life; the total and permanent cessation of all vital functions of an organism. Another definition of death by Feldman (2014) death is the point at which life ceases. Due to the advancement of medicine over the years death have been defined in many ways, depending on the last state of the one who experienced death. Some medical experts definition of death relies on the lack of brain waves if this happens, and the heart is still functioning, the person is not dead but is brain dead (Ressner, 2001), Feldman (2014). It is frightening to consciously recognize our mortality, to be fully aware that one day we will cease to exist. The fear of death is so great; that the reality of death must be suppressed from our consciousness so we can go forward with our lives fully. I remember as a young person I too always felt that death was for the old, as I grew into my adulthood, I begin to face reality that when someone dies it’s no coming back, at least not in this life time. The first close death I was faced with was a very good friend of mine who passed at the age of 27 and it was a very sad time for me, it took a while for me to accept that she was gone for good. One thing that has helped me in the acceptance of my own mortality is my walk with God, and his promises to me through his word. John 14:3 states” I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go to prepare a place for...
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...Death in Paganism Pagans believe that death is such an important process in nature that, without it, life could not exist. From the moment of birth the cells in the body are endlessly dying and being replaced. They believe that the body that dies is not the body that was born. we continuously shed and rework our appearance, our attitudes and our habits as we change from one stage of life to the next. The person that dies is only one of the many people we became throughout our lives. Many Pagan’s believe that if they are to be able to think beyond the conventional view of death, they need to ask themselves if the fear of death is rooted in an earlier, version of themselves that should have been let go. It is understood that each person needs to seek other ways in which to view both life and death; There are a few different ways for Pagans to see life and death, all of them are cyclical patterns, involving that same necessary change. The Wheel of Life The first way to see life and death is called The Wheel of Life. The Wheel of Life tells us that our existence is a constant pattern of cyclical change. Life is constantly changing into death and each moment of death is a moment of rebirth. They acknowledge beginnings and endings within this wheel, but the flow of existence is never-ending. The Wheel of Life is not only a figurative notion but a physical tool as well. The tool itself is a sacred tool often passed down through the family and is unique to each family. That...
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...Final paper for English 225 Death and Impermanence In life we often learn through the experiences of others or own experience. We can also change our actions or beliefs from what we have learned. Death is different and we cannot experience or learn from the dead. So what are the deaths and impermanence is in these two poems, “Dog's Death” by John Updike and “In Memoriam” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that give you compare and contrast to these poems. They related more by someone in the family died. The circumstance might be some terrible death that would make one flee. These two poems are comparison by families and friends missing them after death. They result of this fear is that sorrowing love ones have to many unnecessary complications at a difficult time in their lives. They are frequently disoriented and in shock. “In Memoriam”, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson can compare to “Dog's Death”, by John Updike in many ways. Both poem progresses are noticeable in the rhyme of the poems. Reading these poems feeling of sympathy, which is likely to became empathy (Clugston, 2010 2.3). There's an initial feeling of sadness, but if the reader reflects in what the poems has to say about the person, who is died in inevitable life cycle (Clugston, 2010 2.3). Author uses words to express ideas and feelings and they sense deeply. Yet as the poems progresses, more reminiscent and praising diction is used by the speaker such as “warm” and“love”. (Bush 2006 – 2011). In this poem the family cares about...
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...Late Adulthood: Death and Dying Late adulthood (old age) is generally considered to begin at about age 65. Erik Erikson, a famous psychoanalyst, suggests that at this time it is important to find meaning and satisfaction in life rather than to become bitter and disillusioned, that is to resolve the conflict of integrity vs. despair. Integrity occurs when the individual can look back on the events of earlier life with pleasure about what has taken place and the people one has helped to develop, and a sense of having lived a complete life (Carducci 193). Despair occurs when the elderly individual looks back on his or her life with a sense of incompleteness about what has not been done or will never be done and realizes that his or her time on earth is running out (Carducci 193). In late adulthood, attitudes about death shift: anxiety decreases, hope rises. According to the text, “this shift in attitudes is beneficial…many developmentalists believe that one sign of mental health among older adults is acceptance of mortality, increasing altruistic concern about those who will live after them” (Berger 580). There are three proposed explanations for the relatively low level of fear of death among older adults: “(1) they may accept death more easily than others because they have been able to live long, full lives; (2) they may have come to accept their own deaths as a result of a socialization process through which they repeatedly experience the death of others; and (3) they may...
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...The death rate is the number of deaths per 1000 people; this has fallen dramatically since the 1900s for many reasons, although some have had more of an impact than others. Because the death rate has dropped so much in the past 100 years, it also means that the average life expectancy has now risen (currently around 79), this has caused many consequences for younger generations, such as how to pay elderly people their full pension when they are going without work for 20+ years. The health care of the UK has improved over time because scientists have developed more medicine, that can cure more diseases and is also more effecting at doing so. One of the main causes of death in the early 1900s was the common flu, however, modern medication has now made a vaccine for this, making it very hard to catch in the first place, and also easily treatable. Because of this modern medication, the death rate has fallen over the past 100 years. Another reason for the decrease in the death rate is the improvement in health care. The NHS (National Health Service) was introduced in 1948. The NHS is a public service that provides people with free health care. Before this time, you would have had to pay for your health care, which a lot of people were unable to do, especially the dependant elderly people. This meant that many people went through life with very little health care, or sometimes none at all, which usually led to lots of people becoming ill, and then dying early on in life. The NHS...
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...In my opinion, “Death of a Moth” indicates something far greater than just a moth or death. In the description of the moth burning in the candle she suggests that the insect still had meaning by acting as a wick allowing the flame of the candle to not only continue to glow but to glow brighter. I postulate that Dillard does not necessarily believe in death or that death has an ending. She infers that death is an on going process the allows something greater to come out of it. Such as for every loss has a gain. She uses such a small insect such as a moth to represent that everything has a role after death. The tone of this selection is very blunt and graphic but can also be depicted as inspiring. Dillard uses a violent manner to depict the...
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...of thinking things through leads you to the arguments he presents for the immortality of the soul. Socrates never tells me what to think he only presents ideas and allows the conversation for my own thinking to develop. The process of reading this is in line with the way of life for a philosopher who is seeking truth. Even in his last moments, Socrates is taking time to discuss these ideas with his colleagues. If this is what he is doing before he dies, this is another way he shows me that this is the proper way to live. The body can’t exist without soul but the soul can exist without the soul. The body needs its opposite since it is mortal. But the soul being immortal does not need body to reach beyond itself. This is why Socrates views death in a positive light. He seeks lives in the soul which is done through understanding and the intellect and this is the life of a philosopher. opposites. In the generation of the idea of the opposites you need the idea of "after having been" for the opposition to be understood. Things have an opportunity to come to being because of their opposite. For example, if something becomes larger it only became larger because it was once smaller. So the concepts of large and small exist together in order for the other to come into being. There is a circle that exists where between the things that are opposite exists the states of "coming into...
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...Death: The New Beginning Death is the inevitable truth of life but it is not the end. Instead death is the only beginning of eternal life. The desire to live life to the fullest is a fundamental part of being alive and so it is natural to fear death. Some people consider that to be mighty and dreadful however the poet in conversation with death states that death has no reason to be proud. The poet argues death is weak and dependent on faith, chance, kings and desperate man. The poet takes a strong stance in confronting death and he communicates the central theme that death is neither absolute nor powerful. Instead of worrying about dying, people should live their life to the fullest, so when it actually comes, they don't regret it. In a dialogue with death he uses the word “overthrow”, “die not”, as a verdict that death does not perform actions and that makes it powerless, which is contributing the central theme. He uses the word “poor death” stating that death is less worth than a human, also adding to the theme that death is not to be feared of. He emphasizes by saying “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, and dost with poison, war and sickness dwell...” In general, people perceive death as absolute and mortal but the poet claims that death as a “Slave” to poison, war and sickness from which people die. Death completes the mortality of humans and they attain immortal status. The poet continues that after one dies, the soul is carried on to live eternally...
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...Death in Hamlet Ideas and beliefs surround the mystery of death, which fills the story of Hamlet. Ever since the first scene, we are thrown into a world in which the line between life and death has become very thin. As one of the first characters we are introduced to is the Ghost of the former King of Denmark, Hamlet’s father. In the first scene, a meeting with the dead is come about, although Horatio, Bernardo and Marcellus are afraid by the Ghost as he appears. They are blown with curiosity and want to know why he has reappeared in the living world, “Stay! Speak, speak! I charge thee, speak!” (1.1.65). This curiosity is passed on to the audience and brings them into a wondering with the death of the King that sets the tone for the rest of the play. Hamlet is one of the characters that is consumed with the idea of death after the death of his father. He is driven by the knowledge that he will someday also be perished, and this death is what forces Hamlet to set revenge. In perhaps his most famous speech, “To be or not to be,” Hamlet introduces the question on what the difference is between living and dying and what the point is. Hamlet is not disturbed by his father’s death, but how his mother has gotten over it so quickly, because he is afraid if someone could get over someone’s death like that, then life has no meaning what so ever. Death imagery really sticks the theme of death in the audiences mind throughout the play. The word”rank” shows up constantly in Hamlet’s...
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