Death and the End of Life

Affiliated researchers

Christoph Jedan, Brenda Mathijssen, Anja Visser, Hanneke Muthert

About

Healthy aging, the end of life and the confrontation with death pose serious challenges to people. In today’s affluent society many are expecting an active and autonomous life full of opportunities and fulfillment. However, with age we are confronted with an increasing dependency on others. By the same token, thinking about terminal illness, death and bereavement sits uneasily with an autonomous and self-sufficient lifestyle that is important to many. Little wonder that questions about death and the end of life often make us feel uncomfortable: What are the options in end-of-life care? How do end-of-life care options relate to social, cultural and religious values? Is euthanasia immoral? How do I deal with death and bereavement? How do others? Can psychedelics contribute? Why is it important to remember the dead? How can we do so successfully?

The researchers in this cluster address these challenging questions from the perspective that doing so can contribute to more realistic constructions of meaning and to more resilient strategies for engaging with the many losses humans have to face in the course of their lives, and thus for an integrative conception of life as a whole.

Based on our expertise in anthropology, ethics, cultural history and psychology of religion, we provide cutting-edge research as well as sensitive and sensitising public outreach activities.