3 papers in the library · 5 citations · publishing 2018
Oxford Scholarship Online September 20, 2018 Jens Schlieter 3 citations
The consumption of hallucinogens like LSD in the 1960s and 1970s was a major factor, or "push factor," in the emerging discourse on near-death experiences. Several near-death experiences were triggered by drugs, and the chapter observes shared beliefs between users of psychedelics and Gnostic–Esoteric near-death experiencers.
Oxford Scholarship Online September 20, 2018 Jens Schlieter 1 citation
A second factor driving the rise in near-death experiences and their reporting during the 1960s and 1970s was the development of new reanimation techniques, which increased the number of people surviving critical events like heart attacks. The chapter also examines how the widely accepted redefinition of death as irreversible coma influenced near-death experiences and the surrounding discourse. This impact is evident in the work of Raymond Moody, who remained skeptical of the brain-death definition.
Oxford Scholarship Online September 20, 2018 Jens Schlieter 1 citation
A long-term shift in Western societies toward 'privatized death'—dying in hospitals and institutions—served as a 'push factor' for the articulation of near-death experiences. The chapter argues that near-death experiences can be partly read as a 'spiritual protest' against alienated, anonymous dying in institutions and the materialist approach of modern biomedicine that merely prolongs life. This protest is also present in criticisms of the 'denial of death.'