Living with the Dead: On Death, the Dead, and Immortality (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)

Synopsis

This book explores the moral place of the dead in our lives and in our afterlives. It argues that our lives are saturated by the past intentions and values of the dead, and that we offer the dead a form of modest immortality by fulfilling our obligations to remember them. In the first part of the book, the author examines the scope and limits of our obligations to the dead. Our obligations to respect the wishes of the dead are more substantial than commonly acknowledged, but they can be overridden in a range of cases when they conflict with the vital interests of the living, such as in organ donation and wealth inheritance. By contrast, the author contends that the obligation to remember, at least collectively, cannot be completely overridden. In the second part of the book, the author argues that tradition offers the dead a form of modest immortality—the dead live on insofar as we enact those intentional states with which they most identified. He draws on the Confucian view of ritual to argue that ritual absorption "reincarnates" the dead in the actions of the living. Finally, the author defends a Jamesian account of a pluralistic self that is consistent with the view that we have obligations to the individual dead and that the selves of the dead are pragmatic constructions. Living with the Dead will appeal to scholars and students interested in the philosophy of death, ethics, and cross-cultural philosophy.

Copyright:

2023

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9781000867855

Related ISBNs:

9781032293851, 9781032293868, 9781003301394

Publisher:

Taylor and Francis

Date of Addition:

04/14/23

Copyrighted By:

J. Jeremy Wisnewski, The right of J. Jeremy Wisnewski to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Social Studies, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.