THANATOLOGY: HISTORY, WHAT IT STUDIES, OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The Thanatology is the scientific discipline that is responsible for the academic study of death, the process of death, and the way humans react to it. It also studies our relationship with our own mortality, and with the loss of our loved ones.

The field of thanatology is very broad, and therefore each researcher is in charge of a particular aspect that is of interest to him. For example, from the point of view of a health professional, such as a doctor or a nurse, this discipline can be in charge of understanding what happens at the biological level when we die.

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On the other hand, for professionals in the social sciences (such as archaeologists or historians), thanatology can be used to understand the rites, ceremonies and customs that humans use to honor and remember loved ones that we lose.

Even in fields such as psychology or sociology, thanatology can be used to understand how we deal with the idea of ​​death on a mental level. In this article we will see exactly what this discipline consists of in its broadest sense.

History

In 1903, a Russian scientist named Ellie Metchnikoff tried to draw the attention of the scientific community to the subject of death. This researcher believed that it was impossible to have a complete knowledge about biology and the other disciplines that study life without examining the concept of death at the same time.

His main argument was that it could be very beneficial for those who are facing their own death or that of their loved ones to understand exactly how this process works, and how it unfolds. Thus, he believed that studying death in a scientific way would create great benefits for humanity.

Metchnikoff based his ideas for creating an interdisciplinary study on the fact that, although medical students had to examine corpses as part of their training, they were unprepared to care for those who were dying. Furthermore, his resume also did not include any death-related subjects.

Thus, Metchnikoff tried to fill this void by creating two new disciplines. One of them, gerontology, was in charge of the study of old age and the best way to take care of people going through this period. This science was quickly accepted, and much research began to be done on it.

However, thanatology was not so easily accepted. On the contrary, it took almost five decades for it to be concluded that it was necessary to better understand death and its effects on people. Due to this, it is a relatively recent discipline.

After World War II

At the end of World War II, the world was littered with stories of millions of deaths, making it very difficult for some people to move on with their lives. Because of this, a large number of existential philosophers, psychologists, and thinkers began to worry about the issue of death.

One of the most important was Herman Feifel, an American psychologist who is considered the pioneer of the movement on death. This author broke many taboos by speaking openly about this topic in his book The Meaning of Death. In it, Feifel tried to dispel some myths about this process and its importance for humans.

This book automatically became a classic, and laid the foundations for modern thanatology. It contained ideas drawn from the works of such important thinkers as Carl Jung, Herbert Marcuse, and Paul Tillich. The intention of his work was to improve death education and techniques to support the relatives of the deceased.

From this moment on, many more works began to appear in the field of thanatology. Some of the most important were The Experience of the Death of Paul - Louis Landsberg, some parts of Being and Time by Martin Heidegger, and even some works of fiction by authors such as Tolstoy or Faulkner.

At the same time that thanatology emerged as a discipline of study, a movement known as "Death with dignity" also emerged in the United States. Its goal was to allow Americans to choose what would happen to their bodies once they died.

What does thanatology study?

Being a multidisciplinary field, thanatology is based on collaboration between different fields of study. Death is a universal subject, which has been examined by a large number of disciplines throughout history. Some of these studies have been academic in nature, while others had more to do with traditions and customs.

Therefore, there is no single field of study of thanatology. On the contrary, this discipline collects data from a large number of different disciplines. Next we will see some of his most important areas of study.

Humanities

The humanities are the disciplines that have been studying death the longest. In the past, the average age was much younger than it is today, and catastrophes such as wars, plagues and famines could destroy a large number of inhabitants in a very short space of time.

Due to this, artists, authors and poets created works on the theme of death to try to channel the feelings that this aspect of life awakens in us.

Thanatology tries on the one hand to understand these feelings, and on the other hand to understand how art can help us to face death in an appropriate way.

Social Sciences

The social sciences study both the effect of death on the individual and on society as a whole. Thus, disciplines such as psychology, sociology and anthropology try to understand the same situation from different points of view.

Psychology, for example, tries to understand how knowing that our existence has a deadline affects our minds. Facing our own death has very broad effects on our way of understanding the world, which only appear in our species.

On the other hand, sociology and anthropology try to study how different cultures have faced the idea of ​​death. Sociology focuses mainly on our current culture, while anthropology (aided by other fields such as archeology) compares the methods used for it in the past.

Mythology and religion

Thanatology is also interested in religious and mythological explanations about the meaning of death and what happens after it. All religions in history have had passing as one of their central themes, and it is believed that they actually arose to help us more adequately deal with this fact.

On the other hand, thanatology also tries to understand what effects religion has on the way in which we face our own death. Thus, many people feel comforted to think that a life in the "afterlife" awaits them; while others worry even more that they will be punished for their sins.

Medicine

Finally, thanatology also has a very close collaboration with medicine to study the biological processes related to death. In this field, attempts are made both to delay death and to alleviate the suffering of the terminally ill and the elderly, in addition to seeking better ways to care for them.

Thus, in this field, knowledge from disciplines such as biology, applied medicine or psychiatry is brought together to improve the living conditions of patients. In recent years, in addition, many studies have been carried out that seek to reverse aging and extend life expectancy even more.

goals

As we have already seen, thanatology includes a large number of different fields of study. Therefore, it is not possible to speak of a single objective of this discipline. However, we can identify several great themes within this science.

The first of these is the understanding of the effects that death has on our lives, both psychologically and culturally. Some theorists in this field believe that societies arose precisely to help us cope with our own demise, and they try to understand exactly how they do so.

On the other hand, thanatology is also responsible for reducing the suffering of terminal patients and the relatives of those who have died. They do this by mixing techniques drawn from disciplines such as medicine, psychology, and biology.

Finally, in recent years there has been an expansion of thanatologists seeking to understand the biological processes involved in death to try to delay or even reverse them. In the past decade, the first experiments have been carried out that seek to find the formula to rejuvenate human beings.

Functions of a thanatologist

As it happens when we talk about the objectives of this science, we cannot single out a single function that all thanatologists are in charge of. Rather, their role will depend on whether they are charged with conducting research, dealing with terminally ill patients and their families, or trying to change our culture.

However, it is important to note that thanatologists often do not just dedicate themselves to this discipline, but carry out their work while working in one of the related fields, such as medicine, sociology, anthropology or psychology.

References

1. "Thanatology" in: New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved on: February 26, 2019 from New World Encyclopedia: newworldencyclopedia.org.
2. "Thanatology" in: Britannica. Retrieved on: February 26, 2019 from Britannica: britannica.com.
3. "The Field of Thanatology" in: VeryWell Health. Retrieved on: February 26, 2019 from VeryWell Health: verywellhealth.com.
4. "What is thanatology?" in: Best Counseling Degrees. Retrieved on: February 26, 2019 from Best Counseling Degrees: bestcounselingdegrees.net.
5. "Thanatology" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: February 26, 2019 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.