Editors:
Interrogates the philosophical question of what death means and when it occurs
Explores such questions in chapters with a wide temporal and geographical span
Argues for the value of an interdisciplinary approach when asking such questions
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Palgrave Historical Studies in the Criminal Corpse and its Afterlife (PHSCCA)
Buy it now
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (10 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
About this book
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.
This volume provides a series of illuminating perspectives on the timings of death, through in-depth studies of Shakespearean tragedy, criminal execution, embalming practices, fears of premature burial, rumours of Adolf Hitler’s survival, and the legal concept of brain death. In doing so, it explores a number of questions, including: how do we know if someone is dead or not? What do people experience at the moment when they die? Is death simply a biological event that comes about in temporal stages of decomposition, or is it a social event defined through cultures, practices, and commemorations? In other words, when exactly is death? Taken together, these contributions explore how death emerges in a series of stages that are uncertain, paradoxical, and socially contested.
Reviews
“Being based in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies myself, I appreciate this volume as a valuable contribution to encouraging innovative and stimulating interdisciplinary collaboration in death studies.” (Solveiga Zibaite, Mortality, Vol. 24 (3), 2019)
Editors and Affiliations
-
Independent Researcher, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Shane McCorristine
About the editor
Shane McCorristine is a cultural historian with interests in the themes of mortality and modernity. Between 2013 and 2015 he was a Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow on the ‘Harnessing the Power of the Criminal Corpse’ project at the University of Leicester, UK.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Mortality and its Timings
Book Subtitle: When is Death?
Editors: Shane McCorristine
Series Title: Palgrave Historical Studies in the Criminal Corpse and its Afterlife
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58328-4
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
License: CC BY
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-58327-7Published: 05 October 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-84473-9Published: 13 November 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-58328-4Published: 19 September 2017
Series ISSN: 2947-6348
Series E-ISSN: 2947-6356
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 167
Number of Illustrations: 2 illustrations in colour
Topics: Cultural History, Social History, History of Science, Crime and Society, Philosophy of Science