Encyclopedia of Afterlife Beliefs and Phenomena PDF Download

Author: James R. Lewis
Publisher: Gale Cengage
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
This guide addresses questions on phenomena that have endured since the dawn of humankind, and reports recent trends such as the increases in near death experiences due to the use of defibrillators. Readers can explore beliefs pertaining to life after death that have developed in every culture, religion, philosophy and psychic dimension. Nearly 250 entries, presented in an A-Z order, provide biographies, definitions, theories and cultural and religious belief systems.

Author: Glennys Howarth
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136913602
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
In recent years there has been a massive upsurge in academic, professional and lay interest in mortality. This is reflected in academic and professional literature, in the popular media and in the proliferation of professional roles and training courses associated with aspects of death and dying. Until now the majority of reference material on death and dying has been designed for particular disciplinary audiences and has addressed only specific academic or professional concerns. There has been an urgent need for an authoritative but accessible reference work reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the field. This Encyclopedia answers that need. The Encyclopedia of Death and Dying consolidates and contextualizes the disparate research that has been carried out to date. The phenomena of death and dying and its related concepts are explored and explained in depth, from the approaches of varied disciplines and related professions in the arts, social sciences, humanities, medicine and the sciences. In addition to scholars and students in the field-from anthropologists and sociologists to art and social historians - the Encyclopedia will be of interest to other professionals and practitioners whose work brings them into contact with dying, dead and bereaved people. It will be welcomed as the definitive death and dying reference source, and an essential tool for teaching, research and independent study.

Author: Deborah Noyes
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780618823628
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
How much do we truly know and understand about our own mortality? Enter Encyclopedia of the End, a compulsively readable and beautifully illustrated compendium that explores this most taboo of topics. Entries present a kaleidoscopic mix of topics from afterlife to assassination, forensic science to funeral foods, rigor mortis to reincarnation and more. With an appreciation for the profound and profane, Deborah Noyes helps lift the shroud of secrecy surrounding one of the most fascinating--and ordinary--phenomena of life. After all, who says that a book about death can't be lively?

Author: Robert Kastenbaum
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780028656908
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Book Description

Author: Glennys Howarth
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 0745625339
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
"Glennys Howarth provides a cutting-edge, comprehensive discussion of the key topics in death and dying and in so doing demonstrates that the study of mortality is germane to all areas of sociology. The book is organized thematically, utilizing empirical material from cross-national and cross-cultural perspectives. It carefully addresses questions about social attitudes to mortality, the social nature of death and dying, and explanations for change and diversity, and explores traditional and contemporary experiences of death."--Jacket.

Author: Richard P. Taylor
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
A cross-cultural look at beliefs surrounding death, burial customs, and the afterlife.

Author: Constance Victoria Briggs
Publisher: Weiser Books
ISBN: 1609251644
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
An A-Z encyclopedia of the unseen and the unknown world of psychics, channeling, mediums, mystics, near death experiences, prophets, shadow people, death bed visions, astral projection and more. The Encyclopedia of the Unseen World includes concepts as well as descriptions of the spiritual world that have been extrapolated from a number of sources including: Ancient and Channeled Writings, Cultural Beliefs, Mediums, Mystics, Near Death Experiences, Psychics, Prophets and Visionaries, Scriptures and more.

Author: Michael Martin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810886782
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 709

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Book Description
Because every single one of us will die, most of us would like to know what—if anything—awaits us afterward, not to mention the fate of lost loved ones. Given the nearly universal vested interest in deciding this question in favor of an afterlife, it is no surprise that the vast majority of books on the topic affirm the reality of life after death without a backward glance. But the evidence of our senses and the ever-gaining strength of scientific evidence strongly suggest otherwise. In The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life after Death, Michael Martin and Keith Augustine collect a series of contributions that redress this imbalance in the literature by providing a strong, comprehensive, and up-to-date casebook of the chief arguments against an afterlife. Divided into four separate sections, this collection opens with a broad overview of the issues, as contributors consider the strongest evidence of whether or not we survive death—in particular the biological basis of all mental states and their grounding in brain activity that ceases to function at death. Next, contributors consider a host of conceptual and empirical difficulties that confront the various ways of “surviving” death—from bodiless minds to bodily resurrection to any form of posthumous survival. Then essayists turn to internal inconsistencies between traditional theological conceptions of an afterlife—heaven, hell, karmic rebirth—and widely held ethical principles central to the belief systems supporting those notions. In the final section, authors offer critical evaluations of the main types of evidence for an afterlife. Fully interdisciplinary, The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life after Death brings together a variety of fields of research to make that case, including cognitiveneuroscience, philosophy of mind, personal identity, philosophy of religion, moralphilosophy, psychical research, and anomalistic psychology. As the definitive casebookof arguments against life after death, this collection is required reading for anyinstructor, researcher, and student of philosophy, religious studies, or theology. It issure to raise provocative issues new to readers, regardless of background, from thosewho believe fervently in the reality of an afterlife to those who do not or are undecidedon the matter.

Author: Clifford A. Pickover
Publisher: Union Square + ORM
ISBN: 145491727X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
The acclaimed science author’s illustrated exploration of death from ancient burial practices to the latest theories of immortality, resurrection and more. Throughout history, the nature and mystery of death has captivated artists, scientists, philosophers, physicians, and theologians. This eerie chronology ventures right to the borderlines of science and sheds light into the darkness. Here, topics as wide ranging as the Maya death gods, golems, and séances sit side by side with entries on zombies and quantum immortality. With the turn of every page, readers will encounter beautiful artwork, along with unexpected insights about death and what may lie beyond.

Author: Samuel Scheffler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019998252X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Suppose you knew that, though you yourself would live your life to its natural end, the earth and all its inhabitants would be destroyed thirty days after your death. To what extent would you remain committed to your current projects and plans? Would scientists still search for a cure for cancer? Would couples still want children? In Death and the Afterlife, philosopher Samuel Scheffler poses this thought experiment in order to show that the continued life of the human race after our deaths--the "afterlife" of the title--matters to us to an astonishing and previously neglected degree. Indeed, Scheffler shows that, in certain important respects, the future existence of people who are as yet unborn matters more to us than our own continued existence and the continued existence of those we love. Without the expectation that humanity has a future, many of the things that now matter to us would cease to do so. By contrast, the prospect of our own deaths does little to undermine our confidence in the value of our activities. Despite the terror we may feel when contemplating our deaths, the prospect of humanity's imminent extinction would pose a far greater threat to our ability to lead lives of wholehearted engagement. Scheffler further demonstrates that, although we are not unreasonable to fear death, personal immortality, like the imminent extinction of humanity, would also undermine our confidence in the values we hold dear. His arresting conclusion is that, in order for us to lead value-laden lives, what is necessary is that we ourselves should die and that others should live. Death and the Afterlife concludes with commentary by four distinguished philosophers--Harry Frankfurt, Niko Kolodny, Seana Shiffrin, and Susan Wolf--who discuss Scheffler's ideas with insight and imagination. Scheffler adds a final reply.