Death Dying Cross Cultural Perspectives University of Maine at Fort Kent Writing Question
Erich Fromm was a German Jewish social psychologist who lived through WWI and WWII. In the readings I have selected for you, he is discussing how the idea of the individual came about. Now, this is a very curious thing for all of us – particularly for those of us who were born and raised in a Western culture. One of the ideas that your entire life is predicated upon is the idea that you are an individual. You might think back to the birth of this nation (USA) – not that any of you were there, of course! – but recall your studies from school and remember some of the founding documents of this country and you will probably start to see that there was quite a bit of attention paid to safeguarding the rights of the individual. Since we all grew up with this notion already in place, we don’t usually give any thought to the idea that things were not always this way. So, where does the idea of the individual come from? How does it come about? That is what these readings will deal with.
But don’t let us lose sight of this course. We’re in the business of “Death, Dying, and the Beyond” right? I can see some of you getting through these readings and wondering, “Well, that’s all fine and well, but what the heck does that have to do with our course?” That’s a fair point so I will elaborate. We tend to think of death as largely a personal affair, but no human exists in isolation. We are all a part of a society and a particular culture. After all, if death and dying were merely personal affairs, there could be no course like this one! So, as you go through these readings, I encourage you to speculate upon what death and dying in Medieval times might have been like.
Reading assignment:
https://libcom.org/library/escape-?freedom <– when you click on that hyperlink, you will be taken to a page that has two options for downloading. The page numbers (below) are to the first link. I do not know if the page numbers in the second link will correspond (I am unable to download that one) but, if you end up using the second link, just make certain you read all of the section “The Emergence of the Individual” and The Ambiguity of Freedom.”
“The Emergence of the Individual and the Ambiguity of Freedom” pp. 51-76
“Freedom in the Age of the Reformation” pp.76-170
Please go to your second discussion group for your second discussion question. (See Question #2 on this page. Click on it and you will be taken to your discussion groups). Remember, the idea of the discussion groups is for you to discuss how you are going to go about answering the question. You do not need to answer the question per se! You do that in your Dropbox submission.)
We tend to think of death as largely a personal affair, but no human exists in isolation. We are all a part of a society and a particular culture.If the idea of the individual (as Fromm describes it) is a fairly modern notion in terms of human history, how do you think death and dying would have been regarded in Medieval times? What changes with regard to death and dying do you think came about as the result of the Reformation?
Collepals.com Plagiarism Free Papers
Are you looking for custom essay writing service or even dissertation writing services? Just request for our write my paper service, and we'll match you with the best essay writer in your subject! With an exceptional team of professional academic experts in a wide range of subjects, we can guarantee you an unrivaled quality of custom-written papers.
Get ZERO PLAGIARISM, HUMAN WRITTEN ESSAYS
Why Hire Collepals.com writers to do your paper?
Quality- We are experienced and have access to ample research materials.
We write plagiarism Free Content
Confidential- We never share or sell your personal information to third parties.
Support-Chat with us today! We are always waiting to answer all your questions.
