Religious and Philosophical Conceptions of Death

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to an exploration of the perennial question of death and dying from the perspectives of religion and philosophy. This new Special Issue on “Religious and Philosophical Conceptions of Death” is a sequel to an earlier Special Issue on “Religion–Existence–Death: Perspectives from Existentialism.” This new Special Issue presents a unique forum for open discourse motivated by the insights that religion and philosophy offer through their academic and professional disciplines, and within their respective traditions.

Death is a perennially enigmatic phenomenon. It has plagued, fascinated, and consumed humanity since the inception of human existence. In fact, existence is not fully understood without a self-conception that addresses the question of death with some understanding of the phenomenon as both an objective occurrence and a subjective experience. Thus, all cultures and religions have, through the ages, been compelled to come to terms with this enigma. They have done so, however, necessarily, without a conclusion that could offer universal validity. In the Western tradition, the Hellenistic philosopher Epicurus rejected the issue of death as, in fact and principle, a non-issue—an approach that has been seconded by modern materialists and phenomenologists such as Karl Marx and Jean-Paul Sartre. Within the Christian tradition of Paul the Apostle, 20th century philosopher Martin Heidegger depicts death as being essential to human existence. Ultimately, however, conceptions and rejections of death, including those pertaining to an afterlife (within or beyond this world) are, in principle, bound to differ since despite the wisdom of their insights, they are inevitably speculative. The natural sciences too are, by virtue of their methods, positively resigned to empirical descriptions of death and dying in their self-limitation to the strictly observational standpoint of verifiability through replication. The humility of this self-restriction applies even to so-called “near-death” or ‘real’ death experiences, which claim the closest approximation of and even transition to the absolute limit of death as the endpoint of life. Consequently, the aim of this Special Issue is not to settle the question but to assemble competing and complementary discussions of the issue in principle from all religious and philosophical traditions. Thus, it intends to provide a panoramic view where differing conceptions inform and enrich (rather than reject) each other with their respective insights.

This Special Issue welcomes original research articles, articles informed by the relevant professions, and reviews of the literature. Contributions may include, but need not be limited to, the following areas of interest:

• Research area A: Philosophy, Theology, Religion and Pastoral Care pertaining to death and dying;
• Research area B: Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Linguistics pertaining to the experience/event of death and dying;
• Research area C: the Empirical Sciences such as Biology, Medicine, and Nursing addressing the experience/event of death and dying from religious–philosophical viewpoints.

It is hoped that the assemblage of the varying contributions in this volume will stimulate the discourse of contributors and the readership to pursue the question beyond this Special Issue.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this to the Guest Editor, and cc the Assistant Editor of Religions, Clare Chai, at clare.chai@mdpi.com. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Achim Oberst
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• anguish/anxiety/despair/fear
• bliss/blessedness/salvation/redemption
• body
• a/temporality/eternity
• death/dying
• faith
• im/mortality
• life/survival
• nothing/ness
• resurrection/afterlife
• suicide