GNOSI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Theory and Praxis

Beyond the Grave: Belief, Knowledge, and the Conceptualization of Death in Philosophical Thanatology

2025-03-16T18:44:32+00:00

This study explores the intricate relationship between belief, knowledge, and concepts in the context of death, situating itself within the domain of Philosophical Thanatology. By examining how temporal perspectives, intuition, imagination, and language shape our understanding of mortality, the research delves into the epistemological, ontological, and psychological dimensions of death-related beliefs. The study employs a qualitative, interdisciplinary approach, drawing on philosophical analysis, literary criticism, and cultural studies to investigate the formation, expression, and evolution of beliefs about death. Key themes include the temporality of belief, the role of non-rational faculties in belief formation, and the interplay between language and conceptualization. Through a close reading of philosophical texts, literary works, and cultural narratives, the research highlights the dynamic and multifaceted nature of human engagement with mortality. The findings underscore the centrality of belief in shaping existential attitudes and behaviors, offering new insights into the philosophical and cultural significance of death.

The Moral and Legal Status of the Dead: A Philosophical Inquiry into Personhood, Dignity, and Posthumous Rights

2025-03-16T20:03:44+00:00

This paper explores the concept of personhood and the right to dignity in relation to the dead, situating itself within the field of Philosophical Thanatology—the study of death and dying from a philosophical perspective. Drawing on interdisciplinary frameworks, including legal, anthropological, psychological, and African philosophical traditions, the paper examines the tripartite relationship between death, personhood, and the body. It investigates whether the dead can be accorded rights, particularly the right to dignity, and interrogates the philosophical and legal tensions surrounding this question. The methodology involves a critical analysis of case studies, legal precedents, and philosophical theories, juxtaposing Western dualistic frameworks with African communal conceptions of personhood. Key cases, such as necrophilia trials in the United States and rulings by the Allahabad High Court in India, are examined to highlight the legal and ethical challenges of defining personhood post-mortem. The paper also incorporates African philosophical traditions, particularly the concept of Ubuntu, to offer a relational and holistic understanding of personhood that extends beyond physical death. The findings reveal that the concept of personhood is not static but varies across cultural and legal contexts. While Western legal systems often struggle to reconcile the rights of the dead with rational frameworks, African philosophies emphasize the continuity of personhood through communal and ancestral connections. The paper argues that the dignity of the dead is not solely contingent on the concept of personhood but is also rooted in cultural, emotional, and moral considerations.

The Personhood of the Dead: Morality, Memory, and Posthumous Dignity

2025-03-18T04:35:24+00:00

The research highlights the central role of memory in shaping societal attitudes toward the deceased, drawing on philosophical, legal, and sociological perspectives to analyze how collective memory transcends individual existence. It argues that while the dead lack conscious existence and cannot experience harm or dignity, their memory and legacy impose moral and ethical obligations on the living. The injunction De mortuis nil nisi bonum (“Speak no ill of the dead”) reflects the societal desire to preserve the dignity and reputation of the deceased, even as it raises questions about censorship, freedom of expression, and the accurate representation of history. Ultimately, this study concludes that the concept of posthumous rights is less about the dead themselves and more about how the living choose to honor, remember, and engage with the past. It calls for a nuanced balance between respecting the dignity of the dead and upholding the freedoms of the living, offering fresh insights into the evolving relationship between memory, morality, and law. By addressing these timeless questions, the research contributes to ongoing debates about personhood, rights, and the ethical responsibilities that transcend the boundaries of life and death.

Islamic Eschatology, the Soul’s Journey, and the Ontology of Personhood

2025-05-26T07:46:35+00:00

This paper explores the Islamic conceptualization of death and personhood through the lenses of theology, philosophy, and eschatology. Unlike secular paradigms that view death as terminal annihilation, Islam presents a holistic framework where human existence extends beyond physical demise into the intermediate state (barzakh) and eventual resurrection (qiyāmah). Drawing from Qur'anic exegesis, Prophetic traditions (ahādīth), and classical Islamic scholarship (e.g., Ibn Sīnā, Al-Ghazālī), this study examines: (1) the ontological nature of the soul (nafs/rūḥ) and its relationship to the physical body, (2) the metaphysical journey of the soul after death, including the grave's trial (fitnat al-qabr), and (3) the theological and philosophical implications of bodily resurrection for personal identity. The paper also analyzes contemporary debates in Muslim bioethics regarding brain death, end-of-life care, and the permissibility of life-extending technologies in light of Islamic eschatology. By integrating scriptural sources with philosophical inquiry, this research demonstrates how Islamic thanatology offers a coherent paradigm that affirms the continuity of personhood while maintaining material-spiritual duality. The findings highlight Islam's unique contributions to global discourses on mortality, emphasizing accountability, divine justice, and the soul's transcendence beyond biological cessation.

Death, Personhood, and the Hope of Resurrection: A Christian Philosophical Inquiry

2025-05-29T19:13:02+00:00

This paper explores the Christian philosophical understanding of death and personhood, arguing that the doctrine of bodily resurrection provides a coherent metaphysical and existential framework distinct from secular thanatology. Whereas modern philosophical approaches often reduce death to a biological endpoint or conceptualize immortality through materialist means (e.g., transhumanism), Christianity affirms that human persons—as bearers of the imago Dei—are destined for eschatological renewal. Drawing from Scripture, classical theology (Augustine, Aquinas), and contemporary analytic philosophy (N.T. Wright, Richard Swinburne), this study examines three core themes: (1) the ontological grounding of personhood in divine creation and redemption, (2) the paradox of death as both a consequence of sin and a conquered enemy through Christ’s resurrection, and (3) the logical and metaphysical coherence of bodily resurrection against objections from materialism and dualism. The paper engages with key philosophical challenges, including the “intermediate state” (the condition of the soul between death and resurrection) and the problem of personal identity across temporal discontinuity. It contrasts Christian hope with secular immortality projects, demonstrating how resurrection avoids the pitfalls of disembodied spiritualism and biological reductionism. Finally, the study highlights the pastoral and ethical implications of resurrection belief, showing how it transforms grief, moral agency, and the pursuit of justice. By synthesizing theology and philosophy, this paper offers a robust Christian alternative to contemporary discourses on death, asserting that personhood, even in mortality, is eternally significant.

Postmortem Commercial Rights: The Legal Status of Deceased Persons in Business Transactions

2025-07-18T16:00:46+00:00

The legal status of deceased persons in business transactions remains a complex and underexplored frontier in commercial law. This paper investigates postmortem commercial rights—the enduring contractual, intellectual property, and digital asset rights that persist after death—and highlights jurisdictional inconsistencies in their treatment. While traditional frameworks like succession law and probate procedures govern tangible assets, emerging realities such as e-commerce stores, AI-generated endorsements, and posthumous brand deals expose critical gaps in legal systems globally. Through doctrinal analysis and comparative case studies (e.g., Prince Estate v. Legacy Recordings and Nigeria’s Lawan v. Yunusa), this study reveals tensions between commercial certainty and heirs’ rights, particularly where digital assets or unfinished contracts lack clear succession mechanisms. The paper argues that current laws inadequately address postmortem liabilities (e.g., debts, executory contracts) and novel commercial actors (e.g., deepfake personas), risking economic disruption and ethical violations. A focused evaluation of Nigeria’s legal landscape under the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) and data protection regulations exemplifies these challenges in hybrid jurisdictions. The study concludes with policy recommendations, including standardized postmortem contractual clauses, legislative clarity for digital asset inheritance, and ethical guardrails for posthumous AI applications. By bridging commercial law, succession law, and emerging technologies, this research contributes to debates on legal personhood and proposes reforms to align postmortem rights with 21st-century business realities.

Digital Afterlives and the Ethics of Postmortem Existence: Rethinking Identity, Autonomy, and Remembrance in the Era of Artificial intelligence

2025-08-04T09:08:41+00:00

The persistence of personhood beyond biological death has emerged as a pressing philosophical and ethical challenge in the digital age. This paper interrogates the ontological and ethical dimensions of postmortem personhood, arguing that the deceased continue to exert influence through relational, memorial, and increasingly, technological means. Drawing on existentialist philosophy (Heidegger, Sartre), ethics (Levinas, Blanchot), and contemporary thanatology, we challenge the Western binary of alive/dead by demonstrating how cultural practices (ancestor veneration, digital memorials) and emerging technologies (AI avatars, cryonics) sustain the dead as active participants in social and moral life. We identify key tensions in postmortem autonomy, consent, and commodification, particularly as digital afterlife technologies outpace legal and ethical frameworks. Ultimately, we propose a process-relational model of personhood that accommodates dynamic, multi-substrate persistence while advocating for ethical stewardship of digital remains. This framework addresses gaps in existentialist and metaphysical accounts, offering a nuanced approach to postmortem personhood that balances technological possibilities with respect for human dignity.

Is Death a ‘Journey’? The Role of Conceptual Metaphors in Thanatology

2025-08-08T03:27:11+00:00

The conceptualization of death as a “journey” represents a fundamental cognitive framework that permeates linguistic, cultural, and psychological discourses surrounding mortality. This interdisciplinary study employs conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) to analyze how journey metaphors structure human comprehension of death across religious, medical, and secular contexts. Through systematic examination of linguistic expressions (“passed away,” “crossing over”), ritual practices, and contemporary digital memorialization, the paper demonstrates how these metaphors serve vital psychological functions in mitigating death anxiety while simultaneously raising philosophical questions about the literalization of figurative language. The analysis reveals three key tensions: between metaphor's cognitive necessity and its potential to obscure biological reality; between cross-cultural commonalities and specific metaphorical variations; and between traditional journey concepts and emerging digital afterlife frameworks. Drawing on thanatology, cognitive science, and philosophy of language, the study argues for a balanced approach to death discourse that acknowledges metaphor's constitutive role while maintaining critical awareness of its limitations. The findings have significant implications for palliative care, grief counseling, and public death education in an era of both medicalized dying and technological immortality.

From Dust to Divinity: Christian Personhood, Resurrection, and the Metaphysics of Death

2025-08-12T07:50:06+00:00

Christianity’s resurrection-centered anthropology offers a radical vision of personhood that transcends biological death. This paper examines how Christian theology constructs a metaphysics of persistent identity through its doctrines of bodily resurrection, the intermediate state, and the imago Dei. Drawing on scriptural exegesis (1 Corinthians 15; Job 19:25–27), patristic sources (Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa), and contemporary philosophical theology (N.T. Wright, Eleonore Stump), the study analyzes Christianity’s unique solution to the “problem of personal continuity” in death. It contrasts the resurrection paradigm with secular materialist views and transhumanist immortality projects, demonstrating how Christian eschatology preserves both corporeal and narrative identity. The paper then explores pastoral implications, showing how resurrection-based personhood shapes rituals of dying, grief practices, and bioethical decision-making in Christian communities. Ultimately, the argument reveals Christianity’s distinctive contribution to thanatology: a vision of death not as personal annihilation but as transformative passage within God’s sustaining grace.

Ecological Grief and the Moral Considerability of the Non-Human: Towards a Post-Human Concept of Personhood

2025-09-30T11:48:30+00:00

The accelerating phenomena of species extinction, ecosystem collapse, and landscape alteration characteristic of the Anthropocene are generating a pervasive but often philosophically unaccounted-for experience: ecological grief. This paper argues that the profound sorrow attendant upon these losses reveals a critical lacuna in mainstream environmental ethics—the lack of a robust ethical framework for mourning the non-human. Prevailing anthropocentric conceptions of personhood, which link moral considerability to capacities such as rationality or self-consciousness, render the death of a forest, a river, or a species a matter of instrumental resource loss, rather than the passing of a legitimate subject-of-a-life. This paper challenges this narrow ontology by synthesizing insights from the environmental humanities, post-humanist philosophy, and Indigenous thought. It posits that ecological grief is not a pathological sentimentality but a testifying response to the loss of relational, more-than-human persons. The analysis proceeds by first delineating the phenomenon of ecological grief and its current marginalization. It then critically deconstructs the anthropocentric boundaries of personhood in Western philosophy, arguing that this framework is ecologically and ethically untenable. Through case studies of “glacier death” in Iceland and the extinction of the Bramble Cay melomys, the paper articulates a post-human concept of personhood grounded in relationality, historical presence, and complex agency. Finally, it contends that recognizing the personhood of non-human entities is an ethical imperative, transforming ecological grief from a private affliction into a public, moral duty of remembrance and a powerful motivation for a more responsive and resilient environmental ethic in the face of escalating loss.