All of us who work in the field of death and dying are, beyond our projects and our practices, working on our awareness of our own mortality. This richly stimulating collection of original articles challenges the reader to develop a disciplined and focused awareness of his/her own mortality, and to grapple with the implications. "Awareness of Mortality" contributes to the basic and passionate intellectual quest for meaning in thanatology. It provokes the reader with a wide range of ideas and thinking styles to deepen the questioning process within his/her own self. "Awareness of Mortality" explores issues in philosophy, ethics, developmental psychology, psychoanalytic psychology, idealistic humanism, sociology, spiritual traditions, and other humanities that thanatology overlaps. "Awareness of Mortality" is an introduction to a broad-based philosophical thanatology.

Introduction PART I: POSING QUESTIONSWhat Should We Expect From Philosophy? Jeanne Quint Benoliel Dying and Death Late in the Twentieth Century David J. Roy PART II: PERSPECTIVES IN PHILOSOPHICAL THANATOLOGYImmortality John D. Morgan The Idea of "The Glorious Dead": The Conversion of a Uniquely Personal Experience Bill Warren Suffering and Death: External Questions in a New Context Kjell Kallenberg Meaning and the Awareness of Death Galen K. Pletcher Blinkings: A Thanatocentric Theory of Consciousness Jeffrey Kauffman Personal Identity and Death ConcernâEUR"Philosophical and Developmental Perspectives Adrian Tomer PART III: HUMANISTIC REFLECTIONS ON MORTALITY AWARENESSThe Awareness of Mortality in Midlife: Implications for Later Life Kenneth J. Doka Intimations of Mortality from Recollections of Early Childhood: Death Awareness, Knowledge, and the Unconscious Victor L. Schermer Children, Death, and Fairy Tales Elizabeth P. Lamers Saying Good-Bye to Tomorrow Inge Corless Horrendous Death: Linking Thanatology and Public Health Dan Leviton Death and Beyond: A Hindu's Perspective Aruna Mathur Contributors Index