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On Facing Death: Views of Some Prominent Psychologists

Erindale Campus of the University of Toronto

This study considers the views on death elaborated by several influential representatives of modern psychology from Gustav Fechner and William James to Carl Rogers and B. F. Skinner. It shows that, despite ample differences in theoretical orientation, it is possible to find in these views a measure of agreement concerning the psychological implications of the adult person’s awareness of death. This limited consensus coalesces around the claim that facing one’s finiteness can promote personal growth in the second half of life; that the psychological encounter with death occurs in many guises; that this confrontation is arduous, for the acknowledgment of one’s mortality is associated with fears and anxieties; and that in such an undertaking one can draw support from beliefs that promote the symbolical transcendence of individual finiteness.

Key Words: psychology of death and dying • thanatology • adult development • growth psychology • history of psychology

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 44, No. 3, 337-357 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167804266095


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