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The Theory Of Death And Dying

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Philosophers have been studying the concept of death for decades to try and “learn how to die.” There are many different approaches one could take to analyze the ideal of learning to die, and it requires a multifaceted approach. Although the concept of dying will be individualized and subjective, there are several themes that we see evident in post modernized views of death and dying. After studying Plato (2002) and Dastur (2012), we can gain a better understanding of how postmodernity has affected the philosophical view of death, dying and bereavement. Humans are an interesting species when we look at death practices compared to other mammals. We are the only mammals that perform burials and such elaborate funeral practices, mummifications, etc. Some philosophers would argue that in itself is what makes us human. It’s interesting because it proves how differently we view death compared to other mammals. Other species when approaching a corpse will leave it there, whereas our human attachment leads to all these practices and rites we have forth put for generation (Dastur, 2012). Why is it that humans feel an emotional attachment to a dead corpse, more so than other mammals? What makes us “human” leads to us facing death differently than other species? To gain a better insight of how to approach the philosophy of death, Dastur (2012) teaches us why it is unacceptable to avoid and neutralize death. If we are to neutralize death, we are not fully accepting what is

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