Earthly immortalities : how the dead live on in the lives of others / Peter Moore.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moore, Peter, author.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Immortality (Philosophy).

Consciousness.

Immortality.

Physical Description:

279 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Reaktion Books Ltd., 2019.

Summary:

In this thought-provoking book, Peter Moore examines the often overlooked issues concerning human mortality, the fragile ways in which the dead can be said to "live on" in earthly terms: through their children, their work, the memories of others, their possessions, and even their bodies. Such earthly immortalities raise a host of fascinating questions about our attitudes toward life, and toward the world we leave behind us when we die. To what extent does the meaning we find in our lives depend upon the assumption there will always be a new generation to continue the human adventure? What would it be like if science were able to extend life indefinitely, and is this something already enshrined in the doctrine of reincarnation? Can we solve our anxieties about mortality by learning that life is worth living precisely because we do not live forever? In a generous and eloquent account, these and more are the questions Earthly Immortalities seeks to answer.

Contents:

1 Minding Mortality p. 30

2 Staying On p. 52

3 Posthumous Personhood p. 87

4 Anonymous Immortality p. 113

5 Doing without an Afterlife? p. 144

6 Death and the End of the World p. 168

7 What of the World without Us? p. 198

8 This World is Not Enough p. 221.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

ISBN:

1789140587

9781789140583

OCLC:

1041804102