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Felix Tirschmann

 
Sociology, German literature, arts and media sciences
Dortmund University, Konstanz University

Secularization and transcendency.
About the reconstruction of conceptions of death in modern society

Felix Tirschmann studied sociology, german literature and arts- and media studies at the University of Constance, where he recieved his Magister Artium in 2006. After graduating, he works as an assistant lecture at the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. Since October 2007 he has been a full member of the College of Graduate Studies within the Humanism Project at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities. His current interests are thanatosociology, sociology of knowledge, phaenomenology and sociological hermeneutics.

Dissertation

My thesis is about the observable process of what I call the humanisation of death. I focus on the construction and developement of some new techniques and strategies to refer to some mayor issus of dealing with death and dying. By facing different perspective of the many ways to end up a life, the micro level is for me a welcome occassion to execute an analysis. Dealing with the harsh fact of death and dying can so be analysed, on the level of everyday people live-worlds. This approach will allow me to compare the „lebensweltlichen“problems and coping strategies with the solutions offered by institutions. Using interpretations of interview transcripts already let me point out, that ideas, such as dying lonesome, passing away tortured by pain or staying alive only being connected to latest technologies, are the most frequently fears, people have when they think about their endings. And it is interesting to note that we can find already new institutions as a reaction on the just mentioned fears, such as „centers for palliativ care“ and „hospice movement“.

The way of dealing with the issue of death and dying is changing. Within this transformation process elements of a humanisation of death can be discerned. Outlining the institutionally requirements and its grievances of this process, one can afterwards enuciate options for actions, how to deal with the manifold field of death and dying more adequate and appropriate. This means in most of the cases, to be more concerted to individual needs instead of ready-made solutions, or simply: being more human!