Thanatos Revised: What Psychology May Look Like with Positive, Enduring Attitudes Towards Death and Dying
Human Arenas December 1, 2022 Rosa Traversa 1 citation
Death remains a taboo in contemporary society and psychology, yet debates about consciousness and near-death experiences are emerging across clinical, cultural, and philosophical realms. Quantum physics has shifted the notion of evidence-based science, revealing entanglements between matter and meaning. This theoretical paper questions psychology's empirical split between body and mind and explores thanatological perspectives like Eternalism, aiming to enlarge the concept of mental life to counter neuroscientific reductionism. Arguments are illustrated through a case study of Santa Scorese, a young Catholic woman assassinated in Italy in 1991, whose diary, her killer's letters, and an interview with her sister are analyzed. She is described as passionately in love with God and beauty while repressing her own body.