The Lived Experience of Mortality in Cancer Care: A Phenomenologically Grounded Qualitative Study of Being-Towards-Death

Abstract

This paper presents findings from qualitative interviews with 19 cancer patients and survivors, examining how they experience and articulate the existential structure Heidegger calls being-towards-death. The study accomplishes two goals. First, it responds to the widespread misinterpretation of Heidegger in contemporary death studies, palliative care, and psycho-oncology. While existing research often treats being-towards-death as a vague metaphor or rhetorical gesture, this study takes Heidegger’s account as a serious philosophical framework. Our team—composed largely of phenomenological philosophers—integrated his concepts into every stage of inquiry, from the design of interview protocols to the interpretation of participant narratives. We also employed an original qualitative method, presented in a form that is clear and transferable to future research. Second, we show how engaging Heidegger’s account as a substantial framework has direct and unsettling implications for clinical care. If care is to address the human being—not merely stabilize the body—then two practices must be reconsidered. First, the collapse of meaning following diagnosis should not automatically be pathologized, but recognized as a possible opening to authentic existence. Second, symbolic reframing, legacy projects, and spiritual reassurance are not neutral forms of support. They function to deny death’s finality and re-anchor the patient in social norms just as those norms begin to lose their hold. Rather than fostering resilience, these strategies may interrupt the one moment when patients can begin to live—and die—on their own terms.