Analysis Of Western Attitudes Towards Death And Dying

The Western philosophical tradition has developed numerous viewpoints on, and fostered various attitudes toward, our mortal nature. There was once a situation where people regarded death as a theme and we shall die. In Western Attitudes Toward Death and Dying (1974) Aries proposes that death itself has, from the early medieval period onward, undergone a series of gradual yet discernible changes, which he titles “tame death,” “one 's own death,” “thy death,” and “forbidden or wild death.” This fourfold division centers directly on how people experience and understand death. As such, it stands as a peculiar history, one that often eschews more visible changes (e.g., the Reformation) in favor of less discernible shifts present in literature, art (including funerary art), liturgy, burial practices, and wills. It is characterized by the use or assumption

The tamed death is defined as, we shall die. Resignation suggest a quiet submission to the will of God, which arose from the Christian theology. This is the divine will and this is how it should be. It is not to be fought or be afraid of because it is a part of human existence. Many people were farmers and they would raise animals and they die. Life is bound together by natural and divine law. As a result, the only hope you had was after life and the teachings of the Church would influence how people die and how your earthly remains were to be disposed. Aries (1981) argues that the tame death had been occurring for hundreds or even thousands of years. It was, in his estimation, the “oldest death there is” (p. 28). The rituals that surrounded an individual 's approaching death were deeply inscribed into the actions of both the dying and those present at the death. In the religious world, death was coming to everyone and there was no escape. Many believe that they were in sleep with Christ and there would be