Preliminary communication

Thanatological Pluralism and the Epistemic Openness of ‘Death’

Marko Stamenković orcid.org/0000-0003-2523-4527 ; University of Ghent, Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Center for Ethics and Value Inquiry (CEVI), Ghent, Belgium

Abstract

This article discusses conceptual ambiguities in relation to the current definitions of ‘death’. It addresses the need for an essentially pluralistic approach that probes the limits of epistemic singularity and perceives death as an open concept. Despite the views dependent upon the irrevocable termination of existence, I assume the opposite: first, that there are manifold ways to respond philosophically to the issue, without giving priority to any sovereign or prescribed position; second, that the plurality of unequally convincing positions opens up the ‘democratic’ space of negotiations about life and death as a political space par excellence, privileged by philosophy. Finally, my thesis about the thanatological pluralism gets closer to what I shall call the ‘political philosophy of death’ in the future studies of the issue, here insufficiently explored.

Keywords

death; knowledge; thanatological philosophy; epistemic sovereignty; pluralism; politics

Hrčak ID:

142431

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/142431

Publication date:

24.4.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian french german

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