Pushing Near-Death Experiences (I)

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.'

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter focuses on a long-term development in Western societies addressed as “privatized death,” namely, the assignment of the dying into hospitals and other institutions. This trend, mirrored in the works of French historian Philippe Ariès and psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, so the chapter argues, served as a “push factor” for articulating near-death experiences. Near-death experiences can be in part read as a “spiritual protest” against alienated, anonymous dying in institutions and the “materialist” take of modern biomedicine of merely prolonging life. This protest is also present in criticizing the “denial of death.”