Definition of Death

• Terms Related  Death

• Society and Culture
• Language
 Death

• Permanent loss of biological functions of a living

organism
 Death

• It has meaning to different cultures, an example is

afterlife
 Senescence

• Living thing survives calamities, but dies to old age

 Cause of Human Death

• Infectious Diseases
• Obesity and Aging
• Hunger
• Deficiences in Micronutrients
 Autopsy

• Surgical procedure to examine the death of a

living organism
 Cryonics

• Low temperature preservation of animals and

humans
 Galen Strawson

• Death is painless, instant or unexperienced

annhilation.
 Biology

• Organisms unable to adapt change will most likely

die first
 Extinction

• Termination of an organism or a group, usually

species.
Society and Culture
 Suicide

•An act of taking’s one own life

voluntarily
 Suicide in different cultures

• Japanese = Seppuku
• Christian/Judaism = SIN
 Capital Punishment

• Death penalty
• Punishment for a crime
 Capital Punishment in China

• Human Trafficking
• Serious cases of corruption
Religious Perspectives
 Buddhism

• Rare Opportunity to escape samsara

 Judaism

• People who come in contact are impure

Language around death
 Death

• Old English / deap

• Proto-Indo-European – condition of dying
 Language in China

• The Number 4 and Death

• Pin Yin
 Symbols

• A Corpse, set or remains, skeleton

• Ashes after Cremation
Neuroscience of Religion
 Neuroscience of Religion

• Explains religious experience and behavior in

neuroscientific terms.
 Aldous Huxley

• Sometimes used Neurotheology in a less scientist

context
 Neurotheology according to Laurence O.
McKinney

• The basis of religious inquiry in relatively recent

developmental neurophysiology
 Andrew B. Newberg

• the sensation that Buddhists call oneness with the

universe
 Neurotheology according to Eugen
Drewermann

• Developed Modern Neurology and the Question of God

 Neurotheology according to Eugen
Drewermann

• that neurotheology should be conceived and practiced within a theological

framework
Meaning of Life
 Meaning of Life

• pertains to the significance of living or existence in

general
 Scientific Inquiry and Perspectives

• Focuses on Big Bang, origin of life and evolution

 Nature of meaning of life
a. Reker and Wong

• Define personal meaning as the cognizance of

order
 b. Martela and Steger

• Defined life as coherence, purpose and

significance
 Four components

•. You need to choose a worthy purpose or a

significant life goal
• You need to have sufficient understanding of who
you are
• You alone are responsible for your decisions in life
• You will enjoy significance when you pursue a life-
goal
Western Philosophical
Perspectives
 Plato=Platonism

• Meaning of life is attaining the highest form of

knowledge
 Aristotle=
Aristotelianism

• Ethical Knowledge is not certain knowledge, but

general knowledge
Absurdism
 Absurdism

• belief that human beings exist in a purposeless,

chaotic universe.
 Soran Kierkegaard

• A Danish Philosopher who wrote about the

“Absurd”
 Absurd

• or to act by virtue of the absurd, is to act upon

faith
 Albert Camus

• Considered absurdity as a conflict or a “divorce” of

two ideas
 Albert Camus

• suicide is a "confession" that life is simply not

worth living.
 The Myth of Sisyphus

• Absurd hero who showed his beliefs about human

condition
 Meaning of Life According to
Kierkegaard

• Believed that there is no human comprehensible purpose of God.

 Meaning of Life according to Camus

• the beauty that people encounter in life makes it

worth living.
 A Meaning-Centered
Approach to Addiction and
Recovery
 Addiction and Recovery

• Addiction is more than a disease, which can harm

society
 Four Pillar Solution by Vancouver

• 1.Prevention- education about how to avoid drugs

and addiction
 Four Pillar Solution by Vancouver

• 2.Treatment- Support programs enabling addicts

to make healthier decision
 Four Pillar Solution by Vancouver

• 3. Enforcement- more police to target more drug

dealers
 Pharmacotherapy

• Therapy that involves surgery, radiation and

physical therapy
 Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

• To change behaviors or thinking of people’s

difficulties in life
 Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

• Used to treat a variety of mental health disorders.

 Motivational Enhancement Therapy

• Is a counseling approach that helps stop their drug

usage
 Supportive-Expressive Psychotherapy

• is an evidence-based, psychodynamic
psychotherapy for severe disorders
 Pure Strategy of pursuing a meaningful life

• Purpose- motivational component, goals, directions objective

• Understanding – the cognitive component, understanding one’s own
identity and others
• Responsible action – moral & behavioral
component, right solutions
• Enjoyment/Evaluation- affective component, degree of satisfaction and
dissatisfaction