The Loneliness of the Dying

by Norbert Elias

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Auteur(s)

Norbert Elias

Uitgever

New York ; London : Continuum, 1985

Omvang

95 p., 22 cm.

ISBN

0826413730

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The Loneliness of the Dying analyzes how peculiarities of contemporary social structure have produced characteristic problems for dying. The book's interest is not the observation that dying persons are lonely, but rather understanding why this loneliness is predictable, if not at all inevitable. Elias summarizes what the psychogenesis of the modern period produces: "the high degree of individualisation, the comprehensive and constant restraint of all strong drive and emotional impulses, and a tendency towards isolation" (p. 46). Such individuals create institutions that exacerbate the lack of shared meaning which then becomes endemic: "It is only the institutionalized routines of hospitals that give a social framework to the situation of dying. These, however, are mostly devoid of feeling and contribute much to the isolation of the dying ... The secular rituals have been largely emptied of feeling and meaning; traditional secular forms of expression lack the power to convince" (p. 24). People want institutionalized routine — it appeals to their desire for individualisation and restraint — but then they suffer from these routines crowding out rituals in which shared meaning might be generated.

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Trefwoorden

death , philosophy , mourning rituals

Locatie in de bibliotheek

Kast 11 - 1: Filosofie ; Sociologie ; Maatschappij ; Politiek

Opmerkingen

Incl. Index.; first published in 1982 under the titleÜber die Einsamkeit der Sterbenden