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  • Essay / The Anthropology of Death: From Past to Present

    According to Emile Durkheim, religion refers to unified beliefs and practices that unite into a single, simple moral community. Under religion, my main topic focuses on death. In physiological terms, death means that everyone will die early, late, or accidentally. This is why death proves that life is uncertain. A researcher like Durkheim who studies religions proves by carrying out different field work that each society has a religion which can explain and have a different perception of death. Anthropology is the study of people and their culture. When it comes to examining death, anthropology seeks to learn and explore how past and present societies respond to death. Death is considered important in the field of anthropology because human beings have to deal with it and researchers try to understand how different groups in society encounter death and their attitude towards death. Therefore, the following paragraph is about the historical description of death and the author's view on death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayReligious beliefs and practices about death have changed dramatically in human history. This can be explained in modern times, where infant mortality has decreased due to advanced medical practice. This medical practice has played a beneficial role in the lives of human beings, perhaps their attitude towards death has changed. This can be understood when a particular person is suffering from an illness and has finally been cured through medical treatments, which can make another person feel that there is no chance of dying prematurely. Therefore, in primitive times, the process of dying or meeting death seems painful and common, as many ancient societies feared death because they shared the belief that death is unnatural and is a coincidence. On the other hand, one society fears death while other societies do not fear, but overcome death. Particular societies perceive and manipulate death not as an end of life, but rather as our body leaves the world but as the soul is reborn in various forms, whether it is the animal world or the human world. Furthermore, their perception of death has changed and it can be understood that human beings accept death as a collective destiny, which means that the feelings and situations they experience in the face of death are probably shared within a group of people. They were preoccupied with their own deaths and this creates a social awareness of the deaths of others. Philippe Aries maintains that the modern hospital is an “absolutely new type of death”. This can be explained in relation to the past and present where people have completely lost control over their deaths. Thousands of years ago, death was a time when all deceased family members appreciated the positive aspects of caregiving, respecting each other's feelings and emotions, and considered it best spend time with their friends and family. Before the deceased leaves, he will give advice and positive life orders. However, in the modern era, the death of information has become the least concern because it has become a moment of machine that kept dying in ignorance of its state, in the sterile room, safe from public attention. At that time, death was more focused on the community where everything was shared. Now death focuses on personal death. The author argued that from the beginning of the centuryChristian in the Middle Ages, the pledge of eternity shaped the consideration of death, whereas in the Middle Ages, due to the modernization of culture, this ultimately led to a decline of the pledge of eternity. Death can be experienced when the heartbeat and brainstem no longer function. When it comes to 21st century progress, there are complications between life and death, not only in terms of social and religious understanding, but also in terms of technological advancement. From the social and religiousFrom this point of view, people consider the cause of death as part of life, suicide or different circumstances. However, from the point of view of technological progress, death is caused by increased blood pressure or suffering from different types of diseases. So there are different types of outcomes when it comes to different perspectives of death. Death is complicated and difficult to understand when it comes to humanities and social sciences, while there is general consensus between different disciplines. For example, philosophy or psychology focuses on themes and explanations of various topics, while anthropologists focus on the various sociocultural and religious practices that mediate death and maintain the continuity of a social group. Most importantly, anthropological approaches tend to understand the beliefs and practices of people that shape and understand life and respond to death. Likewise, when individuals die, society and culture manage the moral perspective between generations and the understanding of how death is discussed through cultural traditions and religious practice. According to Philippe Aries, the Western historical perspective towards death can be understood in four historical phases. . The first is known as “tame death,” meaning that death is a part of life and is natural. Death was a communal event, meaning that all family members or friends sat near the dying person. The second phase is "one's own death", which means that living and dying becomes one's own experience. In the third phase, Aries describes death as "Your death", explaining that death is dramatized through literature and art by conducting rituals and mourning death. Finally the third phase, at the beginning of the twentieth century, refers to “forbidden death”, which means that death is linked to an unpleasant emotion. Thus, medical advances supplant many cultural beliefs associated with religion. When medical advancement fails to heal a body, the individual is left without knowledge of the spirituality to cope, due to the domination of modern technology. Today, death is often experienced in hospital. In such a situation, it is social agreements that deal with the issue of death. On the other hand, Robert Bluaner views death as a biological phenomenon that strongly affects every human society. He compares premodern death society to industrial society. This further explains that in industrial society there is large-scale production of goods and services. However, migration leads to the collapse of agriculture and maintains distance between family members. As a result, the author attempts to demonstrate that industrial societies bring about the death of modern life. He also argues that death is like a job in retirement, meaning that people who retire are more likely to die due to old age and health problems. The two authors have a different perspective on the way Aris speaks.