Materiality and the body

Explorations at the end of life

Bibliographic Data

ID15081962
AuthorsThorsten Benkel (University of Passau, Chair of Sociology, Passau, Germany, corresponding author), Matthias Meitzler (University of Passau, Chair of Sociology, Passau, Germany)
Year2019
Volume24
Issue2
Pages231-246
Publication date2019-04-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMortality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1357-6275 • E-ISSN: 1469-9885
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13576275.2019.1585787
OpenAlexW2921172066
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited18

Questioning the material status of a dead body is a challenge: On the one hand, a corpse seems to be nothing more than the physical remains of a person that once was – and is now gone. On the other hand, the dead body is still the material representation of the social identity that used to ‘inhabitate’ this body. Not least for it’s striking similarity, one person’s corpse is thus often considered the post mortem status of his or her ‘self’. When taking a closer look at the difference between living (in the sense of ‘ensouled’) bodies and their allegedly materialistic counterparts, the separating effect dissolves. As a consequence, certain concepts of sociological theory become interpretable in a truly transfrontier manner. By drawing upon empirical data from original research carried out by the authors concerning dying, death and bereavement, this article is an attempt to approach the materiality of the dead body in the light of it’s various forms of social utilisation

Aesthetics · Art · Materiality (auditing · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Biomedical Ethics and Regulation · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Organ Donation and Transplantation · Psychology