The Experience of Death in Techno-Scientific Societies

Abstract

This article offers a criticism of the generalized idea that contemporary Western Society denies and hides death and the set of moral recommendations derived from it. The death-denying and death-hiding hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain the changes in the way of facing death after the consolidation of modern medicine. After explaining both hypotheses, I situate them historically in the context of the origins of bioethics and the criticism against techno-science. Afterward, it is offered a criticism of the assumptions used to justify them. As an alternative to both hypotheses, it is proposed that modern Western Society has created its own way of facing death, namely a techno-scientific approach with particular consequences for the decision-making processes at the end of life. The logical connection established between the hypotheses and the set of moral recommendations is consequently reexamined, finally arguing for a situated approach to end-of-life dilemmas and decisions.