Our Ultimate fate

What is Death?

Death is the end of all biological functions that

sustain a living organism.
In medical term, the death of a human being is
associated with “brain death” or the ceasing of all
functions. The cause of death include aging, disease,
and fatal injury.

Aging or Senescence – a natural occurrence which

a person advances in age and the certainty of death is
seen in the gradual decline of the human body.
 In other discipline, the definition of death is nor
merely confined to physical death.
 In Philosophy, Psychology and other Social Sciences
consider death as an experience which involves not
only the deceased individual but also other people
and the community
 In Psychology, the experience of death is often
associated with negative emotions such as grief,
anxiety, anger, and fear.
 Reincarnation the belief that a person’s spirit
begins a new life in another body.

 Eternal Oblivion the belief that the person’s

consciousness is completely erased upon death.

 Afterlife it is believed that the spirit of the dead

survives and continues to persist.

 Mortality Salience – philosopher’s awareness of

the inevitability of death.
 Philosophers’ View on Death

 Martin Heidegger – he believes that man is a

being oriented towards death and that human
existence is fundamentally defined by the awareness
of one’s impending death. This is the fulfillment of
existence, and the acceptance of one’s ortality can
bring about a sense of freedom in a person.
 Ludwig Wittgenstein echoes Heidegger’s view on the
acceptance of death . However, he believes that death
is a phenomenon that is outside of human
experience – in essence, we do not live to experience
death.
 Karl Jasper he considers death as the most
significant “limit situation”, and that one should
have the capacity to alter his or her perspectives and
ideas to be able to live with the fact that he/she is
destined to die.
 The psychologist Erik Erikson defines death as an
important aspect in the development of man. In the
later stages of life, man undergoes a challenge of
balancing his life between ego integrity and despair.
 Ego integrity refers to a person achieving his/her
life’s purpose or having come to terms with his or her
life, however, if a person views his/her life as a
failure or his/her life’s experiences as generally
unsatisfactory, he/she may be prone to feelings of
despair.
 How should one face death and loss?

 Grief is the natural reaction to death and dying, it

involves a multitude of emotions such as sadness,
anxiety, anger and guilt.

 Bereavement is the state of loss brought about by

death.

 Mourning is the process by which persons deal

with death
 Psychological studies on grief have yielded
several views on how humans deal with death, dying
and loss.
For Elisabeth Kubler – Ross her findings and
insight lead her to propose five stages of grief
 Denial
 Anger
 Bargaining
 Depression
 Acceptance
 For George Bonnano, he views that grief does not
necessarily proceed with conventional stages. He
considers humans as being naturally resilient and
that grieving should not necessarily be defined by
sadness or anxiety.
Four Trajectories of Grief
 Resilience – the person remains emotionally
stable despite the loss, and continues with
his/her normal activities.
 Recovery – the person experiences a period of
grief, but this eventually gives way to recovery
and return to normalcy.
 Chronic Depression – the grieving person
experiences intense and chronic depression
which continues long after the death or
traumatic experience has passed.
 Delayed grief – the person may seem to be well
– adjusted but experiences feelings of grief,
anxiety, and distress at a later time.