Abstract
Humans appear to have had awareness from their early consciousness that death was inevitable for all living things. Religions and spiritual practices throughout history have provided belief structures that support the religious and social needs of practitioners regarding death and an existence after life. Death beliefs and practices throughout history have been influenced by environmental, social, and religious and spiritual factors that guide societies’ approach to the dying, the dead, and the bereaved.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aiken L (2000) Dying, death, and bereavement, 4th edn. Psychology Press, Hove, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Anderson E (ed) (1966) The letters of Mozart and his family, 2nd edn. St. Martin’s Press, New York
Ariès P (1974) Western attitudes towards death from the middle ages to the present. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Assmann J (2005) Death and salvation in Ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Bynum CW, Freedman P (eds) (2012) Middle Ages Series: last things: death and the apocalypse in the Middle Ages. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Dead Poets Society [Motion picture] (1998) Touchstone Home Video
Decker S (2010) Why do tombstones often face east? Demand Media, Inc., Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/about_6671751_do-tombstones-face-east_.html
DeSpelder LA, Strickland AL (1983) The last dance encountering death and dying. Mayfield, Berkeley
Dizdar G (2010) The culture of death in late medieval and early Renaissance Italy. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/432885/The_Culture_of_Death_in_Late_Medieval_and_Early_Renaissance_Italy
Edmonds RG (2013) Redefining ancient orphism: a study in Greek religion. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Foley EP (2011) Law of life and death. Harvard University Press, Cumberland, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Freud S (1961) Thoughts for the times on war and death. In: Strachey J (Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud, vol 14. Hogarth Press, London (Original work published 1915)
Grof S, Grof C (1980) Beyond death – the gates of consciousness. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London
Hafiz Y (11/21/13) American attitudes towards death: 12 facts from new Pew Research Center Survey. The Huffington Post: The Huffington Post Media Group
Health (2001) De-coding the black death. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Retrieved 13 Aug 2015
Hotz ME (2008) SUNY series, studies in the long nineteenth century: literary remains: representations of death and Burial in Victorian England. State University of New York Press, Ithaca, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Kübler-Ross E (1969) On death and dying. Collier Books, New York
Kyle DG (1994) Spectacles of death in Ancient Rome. Routledge, Florence, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Library Index (n.d. a) Death through the ages: a brief overview – The Renaissance [cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries. Early Renaissance, mostly in Italy, bridges the art period during the fifteenth century, between the Middle Ages and the High Renaissance in Italy]. Retrieved from http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/539/Death-Through-Ages-Brief-Overview-RENAISSANCE.html
Library Index (n.d. b) Death through the ages: a brief overview – The Eighteenth Century [1701–1800] Retrieved from http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/540/Death-Through-Ages-Brief-Overview-EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY.html
Library Index (n.d. c) Death through the ages: a brief overview – The Nineteenth Century Retrieved from http://www.libraryindex.com/pages/541/Death-Through-Ages-Brief-Overview-NINETEENTH-CENTURY.html
McGowan S (2008) Death and dying in the 18th and 19th centuries., Retrieved from http://memorialhall.mass.edu/classroom/curriculum_8th/lesson1/bkgdessay.html
Plato (1976) The portable Plato. (S. Buchanan, Ed.). Penguin Books, New York
San Filippo D (1998) The value of the awareness of near-death experiences for reducing fears of death for elderly persons, Doctoral dissertation. Retrieved from WorldCat. (51720750)
Sanford Report (2005) Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs
Schroeder-Lein GR (2008) Encyclopedia of civil war medicine. M.E. Sharpe, Inc., Armonk, Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Thomas D (1952) The poems of Dylan Thomas. New Directions Publishing, New York
Toynbee JMC (1971) Death and burial in the Roman world. Thames & Hudson, London
Wood WR, Williamson JB (2004) Historical changes of the in the meaning of death in the western tradition. In: Bryant CD (ed) Handbook of death and dying. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Filippo, D.S. (2017). A Historical Perspective of Death in the Western World. In: Berk, L. (eds) Dying and Death in Oncology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41861-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41861-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-41859-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41861-2
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)