Als de dood voor de dood. Een sociologische belichting van sterven en dood in de hedendaagse samenleving

Samenvatting

Individual & social taboos continue to repress the psychological acceptance of death to the point that the consciousness of death is vanishing. Death is removed from public life into the private sphere. Religion in general & Christianity in particular have lost their dominant influence as general meaning structures in Western society. Without a legitimate, ultimate meaning, death is seen as absurd. Thus, a paradox has developed: on the one hand, death is taboo, while on the other, interest in death is growing. The death process is being redefined, lifting the taboo. Individuals previously bound by the taboo are now able to interpret their own experiences of death through an autonomous choice of meaning structures, religious or otherwise. However, another paradox is seen in that this increased self-determination is lost at the moment of death. 56 References. Modified HA