Summary Of Western Attitudes Towards Death

Philippe Aries gives a depiction of the historical perception of death in his writing on ‘Western Attitudes toward Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present.’ Aries classifies the social history of death into varies categories; each one defines the meaning of death by individual and community view. He even defines death through social institutions beginning in the Middles Ages to present times of Western history. Aries historical research of varies attitudes toward death from one time period showed that social concepts and perception concerning death changed drastically over time. His research was documented based upon historical writing centered around death, art, archaeological, last will and testament documents, funding to churches based upon death, biographies, letters, and study of cemeteries’ practices from varies time periods. Aries outlines four different attitudes towards death which are the following: tame death, one’s own death, thy death, and forbidden death. Overall, Aries writing gives a view how many societies in the Western cultural dealt with the
This period of time reminds of when I used to watch old movies of knights, or gladiators before their death would speak their last words and accepted their faith. During the tamed death stage people in society considered death as being natural and inevitable. Most deaths during this time period was accepted as common place and the death bed was a meeting place for one to say their last farewells to family, to remember one’s life before death, and to receive the last forgiveness from minister or priest. I believe acceptance of the end of one’s life is something that is very noble. I know we all know we are not going to live forever and to be in state of readiness when your time comes says a lot about one’s mind