Dialogue on grief and consolation

305 Pages·2009·2.153 MB·English

by  O'Connell, Terence Lawlor

Dialogue on
grief anD Consolation
VIBS
Volume 208
robert ginsberg
Founding Editor
leonidas Donskis
Executive Editor
Associate Editors
g. John M. abbarno Matti Häyry
george allan steven V. Hicks
gerhold K. Becker richard t. Hull
raymond angelo Belliotti Michael Krausz
Kenneth a. Bryson Mark letteri
C. stephen Byrum Vincent l. luizzi
Harvey Cormier adrianne Mcevoy
Robert A. Delfino Peter a. redpath
rem B. edwards arleen l. f. salles
Malcolm D. evans John r. shook
Daniel B. gallagher eddy souffrant
andrew fitz-gibbon tuija takala
francesc forn i argimon emil Višňovský
William gay anne Waters
Dane r. gordon James r. Watson
J. everet green John r. Welch
Heta aleksandra gylling thomas Woods
a volume in
Lived Values, Valued Lives
LVVL
richard t. Hull, editor
Dialogue on
grief anD Consolation

terence o’Connell
amsterdam - new York, nY 2009
Cover Design: studio Pollmann
the paper on which this book is printed meets the requirements of “iso
9706:1994, information and documentation - Paper for documents -
requirements for permanence”.
isBn: 978-90-420-2627-8
e-Book isBn: 978-90-420-2628-5
© editions rodopi B.V., amsterdam - new York, nY 2009
Printed in the netherlands
Lived Values Valued Lives
(LVVL)

Richard T. Hull
Editor
Other titles in LVVL
Dixie Lee Harris:
Encounters in My Travels:
Thoughts Along the Way.
2006. VIBS 174
Craig Clifford:
Learned Ignorance in the Medicine Bow Mountains:
A Reflection on Intellectual Prejudice.
2008. VIBS 199

To My Family
Past, Present, and Future

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL FOREWORD xi
RICHARD T. HULL

PREFACE xiii

INTRODUCTION 1

O NE Grief and Anger 7

T WO “ She’s No Longer Suffering” 13

T HREE “ She Had a Good Life” 23

FOUR Types of Grief and Comfort Strategies 29

F IVE The Annihilation Consolation 41

S IX D eath as a Deprivation 49

S EVEN W ould Immortality Be Good? 67

EIGHT Life as a Work of Art 91

N INE Death’s Impact on Survivors 109

T EN I s Constant Change Consoling? 127

E LEVEN I s Present Existence Better than Past Existence? 161

TWELVE Grief and Death’s Inevitability 179

T HIRTEEN The Cycle of Life and the Importance of Emotions 191

F OURTEEN B enefits and Harms of Grief 211

F IFTEEN G rief as a Way of Knowing 233

SIXTEEN Conclusion 257