Philosophy & Religion (PHIL): PHIL 111: Death & Dying

Religion, Death & the Senses

This collection of articles explores six physical and three socio-cultural senses in relation to death and dying: the senses of sight, smell, sound, taste, touch, movement, decency, humour, and loss. Each section provides differing examples of how death and dying can be viewed through the lens of human physical and cultural senses. Chapters include historical and contemporary examples of ways in which death, dying, and grieving are inextricable from their physical sensual expressions and socio-cultural mores.

Call number: BL 504 .R435 2024 -- New Books, Bethlehem

Meaning of Mourning

This book presents perspectives from leading philosophers, psychologists, theologians, writers, and artists exploring different dimensions of death, loss, and grief. Together, they form a wide-ranging study of some of the most difficult and formative experiences in human life.

Call number: BF 575 .G7 M439 2023 -- Stacks, Bethlehem

Journey's End: An Investigation of Death & Dying in Modern America

In elderhood, the health care system has a narrow view of how to provide care. It focuses on extending a patient's life at all costs, with an over-reliance on machines and procedures, instead of caring holistically for the person. Accordingly, many of us will likely spend our final weeks in long-term care facilities or an intensive care unit (ICU). Dying at home, peacefully, and surrounded by family is almost impossible in our world -- and our fear of death is a major contributor to this impossibility. Fittingly, the central idea of this book is that in old age, or when facing a terminal diagnosis, it is more important to understand your life rather than to extend it. While this may seem simple, its implications are profound. A natural death means accepting that, at some point, we are old enough, or sick enough, to die. In our cynical and overly clinical age, it is difficult to reflect on the meaning of one's life, but that kind of honest introspection is exactly what we need. Accordingly, this book seeks to help people manage their healthcare, their expectations, and their decisions in the final phase of life.

Call number: R 726.8 .C65 2023 -- Stacks, Bethlehem & Pocono

Afterlife Book: Heaven, Hell & Life After Death

Covering popular, historical, scientific, and cultural aspects of death and the hereafter, this book tackles the big questions of death and dying -- and life. It looks for objective answers, but often comes away with subjective answers, both well-reasoned and profound. It looks at the natural cycles of birth, life, death, and (possibly) rebirth. This engrossing book looks at death rituals across the globe, and the many competing views of the afterlife -- and the shared connections between them. An extensive appendix provides testimonials by people who have had afterlife experiences.

Call number: BD 444 .J566 2023 -- Stacks, Bethlehem & Pocono

When My Time Comes: Conversations About Whether Those Who Are Dying Should Have the Right to Determine When Life Should End

Through interviews with terminally ill patients, and with physicians, ethicists, spouses, relatives, and representatives of those who vigorously oppose the movement, author Diane Rehm gives voice to a broad range of people who are personally linked to the realities of medical aid in dying. The book presents the fervent arguments -- both for and against -- that are propelling the current debates across the nation about whether to adopt laws allowing those who are dying to put an end to their suffering. With characteristic even-handedness, Rehm skillfully shows both sides of the argument, providing the full context for this highly divisive issue.

Call number: R 726 .R448 2020 -- Browsing, Bethlehem & Pocono

A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America

The practice of mercy killing extends back to Ancient Greece and beyond. In America, the debate has raged for well over a century. This book tells the dramatic story of the men and women who struggled throughout the 20th century to change the nation's attitude -- and its laws -- regarding mercy killing.

Right to Die: A Reference Handbook

This book provides a complete examination of right-to-die issues in the United States that dissects the complex arguments for and against a person's liberty to receive a physician's assistance to hasten death. It covers the legal aspects and the politics of the right-to-die controversy, analyzes the battles over the right to die in state and federal courts, and supplies primary source documents that illustrate the political, medical, legal, religious, and ethical landscape of the right to die.

Call number: R 726 .B255 2017 -- Stacks, Bethlehem & Pocono

Understanding Death: An Introduction to Ideas of Self and the Afterlife in World Religions

This book offers a comprehensive survey of how religions understand death, dying, and the afterlife, drawing on examples from Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, and Shamanic perspectives. It considers shared and differing views of death across the world's major religions, including the nature of death itself; the reasons for it; the identity of those who die; religious rituals; and how the living should respond to death. The book places emphasis on the varying concepts of the 'self' or soul, and uses a thematic structure to facilitate a broader comparative understanding.

Call number: BL 504 .S86 2014 -- Stacks, Bethlehem & Pocono

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death

Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician and author Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for the dead. In this book, she vividly describes decomposed bodies and investigates the world's funerary history; introduces death care innovators researching body composting and green burial; and examines how traditions from other cultures help us see our own death customs in a new light. Doughty contends that the American funeral industry sells a particular -- and, upon close inspection, peculiar -- set of 'respectful' rites: bodies are whisked to a mortuary, pumped full of chemicals, and entombed in concrete. She argues that our expensive, impersonal system fosters a corrosive fear of death that hinders our ability to cope and mourn.

Call number: RA 622 .D68 2017 -- Stacks, Bethlehem