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Scholars contributing to this special issue on “Family Communication at the End of Life” have provided evidence that communication is vital for terminally ill individuals, family members, and healthcare/palliative care specialists. Overall, the fifteen articles in this special issue focus on five questions: First, what are the trends regarding different approaches for beginning the conversation about death and dying earlier rather than later? Second, who is making the end of life decisions and how are they made? Third, how does age and disease impact the way that families communicate at the end of life? Fourth, how does good communication (i.e., satisfying for all participants, effective for addressing needs, fulfilling goals) impact the myriad of complex issues at the end of life? Fifth, what is the significance of exploring and valuing the perspective of the family members’ experiences and recollections of their communication at the end of life with their terminally ill family member as well as with the healthcare providers? Overall, the scholars emphasize that focusing on family communication at the end of life is crucial for improving medical, psychological, and relational outcomes for those dealing with the death and dying process.

end of life --- communication --- family --- death and dying --- palliative care --- healthcare

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This erudite reflection strikes home as baby-boomers watch their parents fade (leaving them next in line) and find it hard to go on ignoring the reality of death. It is within our human nature to turn our minds away from death: we focus on our life choic

Death. --- Death --- Dying --- End of life --- Life --- Terminal care --- Terminally ill --- Thanatology --- Philosophy

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What is death and why does it matter to us? How should the knowledge of our finitude affect the living of our lives and what are the virtues suitable to mortal beings? Does death destroy the meaningfulness of lives, or would lives that never ended be eternally and absurdly tedious? Can death really be an evil if, after death, we no longer exist as subjects of goods or evils? How should we respond to the deaths of others and do we have any duties towards the dead? These, and many other, questions are addressed in Geoffrey Scarre’s book, which draws upon a wide variety of philosophical and literary sources to offer an up-to-date and highly readable study of some of the major ethical and metaphysical riddles concerning death and dying. Scarre shows that far from being a morbid subject for a philosophy book reflecting on death and its significance doubles as an illuminating way of reflecting on life.

Death. --- Life. --- Life --- Death --- Dying --- End of life --- Terminal care --- Terminally ill --- Thanatology --- Philosophy --- Philosophical anthropology

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A physician-philosopher celebrates the mystery and delight of everyday life from an imagined posthumous perspective In this beautifully written personal meditation on life and living, Raymond Tallis reflects on the fundamental fact of existence: that it is finite. Inspired by E. M. Forster's thought that "Death destroys a man but the idea of it saves him," Tallis invites readers to look back on their lives from a unique standpoint: one's own future corpse. From this perspective, he shows, the world now vacated can be seen most clearly in all its richness and complexity. Tallis blends lyrical reflection, humor, and the occasional philosophical argument as he explores his own postmortem recollections. He considers the biological processes and the senses that opened up his late world and the million-nooked space in which he passed his life. His inert, dispossessed body highlights his ceaseless activity in life, the mind-boggling inventory of his possessions, and the togetherness and apartness that characterized his relationships in the material and social worlds. Tallis also touches on the idea of a posthumous life in the memories of those who outlive him. Readers who accompany Tallis as he considers his life through death will appreciate with new intensity the precariousness and preciousness of life, for here he succeeds in his endeavor to make "the shining hour" shine more brightly.

Life. --- Death. --- Death --- Dying --- End of life --- Life --- Terminal care --- Terminally ill --- Thanatology --- Philosophy

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Laughter, contemporary theory suggests, is often aggressive in some manner and may be prompted by a sudden perception of incongruity combined with memories of past emotional experience. Given this importance of the past to our recognition of the comic, it follows that some ""traditions"" dispose us to ludic responses. The studies in Of Corpse: Death and Humor in Folklore and Popular Culture examine specific interactions of text (jokes, poetry, epitaphs, iconography, film drama) and social context (wakes, festivals, disasters) that shape and generate laughter. Uniquely, however,

Death. --- Death --- Anthropology --- Social Sciences --- Folklore --- Dying --- End of life --- Life --- Terminal care --- Terminally ill --- Thanatology --- Philosophy