The nature of the fear of death, as well as whether it is possible to overcome these experiences
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The article discusses the phenomenon of fear of death and the possibility of reducing or overcoming this fear. The existing psychological explanations of this phenomenon are considered by the author but seem insufficient to him. He proposes to examine the fear of death within the framework of the schemology concept he developed, in which the main object is semiotic schemes. Several examples illustrate the author's understanding of the concept of "scheme" as a structure that contains a "problematic situation," a "new reality" that allows for understanding what is happening, and a "new action." The author shows the connection between the concept of a scheme and the concept of culture. Research shows that in culture, problematic situations arise, and "semiosis" is formed, the signs and knowledge of which a person uses to construct schemes (from a semiotic point of view, a scheme is a complex sign, and in relation to reality, it is knowledge). It is discussed why the fear of death was minimal in archaic culture and the culture of the Middle Ages, while in others, especially in modern times, it is at its maximum. This is primarily related to the fact that early cultures were based on spiritual practices that assumed the existence of immortal souls, whereas in modernity, such existence is denied by science. Nevertheless, individuals, even in modern European culture, as V.S. Bibler writes, can overcome social and cultural conditioning. An analysis is proposed, explaining within the framework of schemology how the change of a person's lifeworld and sensibility occurs. According to the author, these processes underlie the fear of death or its overcoming. He tries to show that the construction of schemes and the change of lifeworld entail a regrouping and restructuring of brain structures and neurons, but the latter cannot be considered the cause of schematization and the change of lifeworld, since this determination is mediated by the presence of such intermediaries as imagination, comprehension, and awareness.
Source: Философская мысль
Author: Vadim Markovich Rozin
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4416419637