This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational und... more This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational understanding of subjectivity and an intergenerational notion of death awareness, the author develops a nonessentialist and nonpathological understanding of the experience of losing part of oneself following the death of another. Losing part of oneself refers, on the one hand, to a shattered subject trying to understand and come to terms with the death of another and a shared lifeworld that is irremediably altered. On the other hand, the partiality of this loss implies that the surviving person is forced to struggle with the quandaries of living on. Thus, a social ontology of grief captures the irreducible and painful aspects related to the loss of significant others, as well as the ethical predicaments related to continued existence, which are not exempt from possibilities and hope.
International Review of Theoretical Psychologies, Jul 10, 2021
In this paper, I seek to revitalize the concept of happiness by conceptualizing it as a relationa... more In this paper, I seek to revitalize the concept of happiness by conceptualizing it as a relational and instantaneous phenomenon with both existential, ethical and political dimensions. Happiness hapensin and through encounters, and it does so when we least expect it. Drawing on Bachelard's writings on 'the instant', as well as Gumbrecht's and Rosa's much related concepts of 'presence' and 'resonance', I attempt to formulate a more relational and nonvolitional counter-concept of happiness that blurs the border between eudemonic happiness and subjective well-being on the one hand and positive affect on the other. Safeguarding opportunities for these moments to happen is to be seen as vital in a contemporary society governed by individualization, rationalization and hedonistic principles. Even though one cannot choose to be happy, one can indeed lead a good life; colored by an openness towards the other and what might come.
This literature review examines qualitative studies on partner bereavement from the year 2000 to ... more This literature review examines qualitative studies on partner bereavement from the year 2000 to 2018. The aim is to investigate which perspectives, theories, and models are prominent in this research, and how contemporary sociocultural trends might be related hereto. After giving a brief account of grief research in a historical perspective with a point of departure in partner bereavement and the development of a qualitative methodology within grief research, the following five theoretical frameworks are presented on the background of a close reading of the included 18 studies: continuing bonds, meaning and narrative reconstruction, the dual process model, post-traumatic growth, and disenfranchised grief. In the discussion, I pinpoint how the popularity and influence of these frameworks are related to contemporary sociocultural tendencies and ideologies. It is suggested that a greater awareness with regard to the cultural mediation of experiences and understandings of grief would be beneficial. Specifically, I argue that all the reviewed frameworks-in different ways, remain disturbed by a contemporary inability of handling suffering and impossibilities.
Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger ... more Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger livet på jorden, og at den globalesituation er tiltagende kritisk, uden hermed at forfalde til nihilismeeller fortvivlelse. Dagens debat om klimakrisens emotionelle konsekvenserer i høj grad domineret af negative emotioner, såsomangst, sorg og endog depression. I lyset af en eskalerende opvarmningaf klodens overflade, og medfølgende klimaforandringer,betragtes håb ofte som både uhensigtsmæssigt og naivt. I denneartikel forsøger jeg at revitalisere håbets eksistentielle, etiske ogpolitiske betydning og argumenterer for, at det udgør en afgørendedel af vores stræben efter mere bæredygtige måder at leve på. Medudgangspunkt i dagdrømmen og dens helt centrale plads i ErnstBlochs tænkning forsøger jeg at åbne op for en forståelse af håb,som er funderet både i en konfrontation med afgørende begrænsningerog bevarelsen af en åben mulighedshorisont. Håb og dagdrømmeer intimt forbundne i det, at de begge udspiller sig i mellemrummet– mellem fantasi og virkelighed, nødvendighed ogmulighed. I den åbning, som samtidig blotlægger historicitetenslænker og tilværelsens radikale kontingens, finder vi kimen til en form for håb, som hverken er identisk med optimisme eller begær,men snarere bør betragtes som en relationelt forankret dyd – intimtforbundet med vores evne og vilje til at handle
Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to... more Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to death. Suffering makes us hide and act, love and kill. From the primal scream of the newly born to the oftenpainful last sip of air that we breathe, suffering pervades our entire lives. We feel it through the core nerve of our being, and suffering, in Kierkegaard's words, "nails us to ourselves". There is nowhere to hide and yet there is. The world was always one of others and through them, our lives acquire its form and its bearing. Yet these others cannot be trusted; they betray, grew old, sick and finally, they too must die. The relational shields that protect and mark who we are can alleviate but not protect us from suffering. As Løgstrup (1997) has suggested, it is through the irrevocable unshareability of suffering that the need to attest our inner experiences and articulate these through language or action emerges. It is thus the solitude of suffering that creates the active need to connect with others, and on the one hand, we find ourselves, with Alphonso Lingis' (1994) words, in "the community of those who have nothing in common". On the other, riots and revolutions often testify to the potential of suffering to unite across the borders that otherwise tends to diverge us. As Martin Hägglund (2019) has pointed out, all of us find ourselves thrown into a world that leaves much to wish for-none of us have asked for this life, and yet we are asked to carry it; to "own our lives". Mental states are never identical to brain states (Kripke, 1980) and the agonies that humans undergo always point to us as spiritual beings, to suffering being more than pain. Shortly after the world has begun to make sense, reflexivity kicks in and we all become, as Augustine puts it in his Confessions, "questions unto ourselves". Being human means experiencing that-while our actions are earnest attempts of responding to these questions, final answers remain out of reach, and we find
In this article I develop the notion of Being-towards-grief as a way of conceptualising the blurr... more In this article I develop the notion of Being-towards-grief as a way of conceptualising the blurred intersection between relationality and finitude. In contrast to an existential philosophical and psychological tradition that has privileged one's own death in a rationalised fashion, I argue that we become aware of death through the relentless possibility of the other dying and the uncertainty and distress that this implies. Furthermore, I suggest that this encounter is paramount to an inherently ethical process of subjectification. I become who I am through an encounter with the possibility of the death of the other and the responsibility that this implies. Instead of a resolute and future-oriented life affirmation, the death awareness that Being-towards-grief entails, points to an acceptance of and humbleness with regard to human limitations, and gratitude for a common past.
Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapt... more Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapter, I present the participants, examine what kind of knowledge can be generated by conducting interviews, situate the dissertation within its proper social and scientific context, discusses how the relationship between theory and empirical material is treated in this dissertation, and how to conceive of the role of the researcher. While there is no plausible way of understanding grief without its lived experience, any broadened understanding of that experience requires a firm theoretical grounding. In that light, I develop a pragmatic and eclectic approach to the field. Investigating existential phenomena such as grief is and should be a Martin Hägglund Reading Radical Atheism during my undergraduate studies in philosophy changed everything, as did This Life during this piece of work. The noncompromising spirit of your work remains my greatest source of intellectual inspiration, and it would be fair to say that this dissertation begins and ends on the last page of This Life: in the acknowledgment that "everything is at stake in what we do with our finite time together." Moreover, you hosted my research visit in New Haven and welcomed me to the world of Yale University. I treasure our meetings in New York, and your willingness to read and discuss my work.
Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger ... more Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger livet på jorden, og at den globalesituation er tiltagende kritisk, uden hermed at forfalde til nihilismeeller fortvivlelse. Dagens debat om klimakrisens emotionelle konsekvenserer i høj grad domineret af negative emotioner, såsomangst, sorg og endog depression. I lyset af en eskalerende opvarmningaf klodens overflade, og medfølgende klimaforandringer,betragtes håb ofte som både uhensigtsmæssigt og naivt. I denneartikel forsøger jeg at revitalisere håbets eksistentielle, etiske ogpolitiske betydning og argumenterer for, at det udgør en afgørendedel af vores stræben efter mere bæredygtige måder at leve på. Medudgangspunkt i dagdrømmen og dens helt centrale plads i ErnstBlochs tænkning forsøger jeg at åbne op for en forståelse af håb,som er funderet både i en konfrontation med afgørende begrænsningerog bevarelsen af en åben mulighedshorisont. Håb og dagdrømmeer intimt forbundne i det, at de...
This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational und... more This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational understanding of subjectivity and an intergenerational notion of death awareness, the author develops a nonessentialist and nonpathological understanding of the experience of losing part of oneself following the death of another. Losing part of oneself refers, on the one hand, to a shattered subject trying to understand and come to terms with the death of another and a shared lifeworld that is irremediably altered. On the other hand, the partiality of this loss implies that the surviving person is forced to struggle with the quandaries of living on. Thus, a social ontology of grief captures the irreducible and painful aspects related to the loss of significant others, as well as the ethical predicaments related to continued existence, which are not exempt from possibilities and hope.
Naervaerende temanummer om Kvalitativ psykologi udspringer af en konference arrangeret af vidensg... more Naervaerende temanummer om Kvalitativ psykologi udspringer af en konference arrangeret af vidensgruppen Qualitative Studies på Aalborg Universitet i maj, 2021. Baggrunden for konferencen var en intention om at samle forskere fra rundt om i landet med henblik på at diskutere, hvad kvalitativ psykologi er, bør og kan. På trods af at pandemien medførte et halvt års udskydelse, og at konferencen til sidst blev afholdt online, var der både god stemning, høj kvalitet på oplaeggene og bred appel til at fortsaette en tvaervidenskabelig diskussion omkring teoretiske, empiriske og metodiske spørgsmål knyttet til kvalitativ forskning-også udenfor psykologien. I forlaengelse af konferencen i 2021 blev Kvale-konferencen derfor etaberet som en årlig tilbagevendende begivenhed på baggrund af et konstruktivt samarbejde mellem Aalborg
Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapt... more Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapter, I present the participants, examine what kind of knowledge can be generated by conducting interviews, situate the dissertation within its proper social and scientific context, discusses how the relationship between theory and empirical material is treated in this dissertation, and how to conceive of the role of the researcher. While there is no plausible way of understanding grief without its lived experience, any broadened understanding of that experience requires a firm theoretical grounding. In that light, I develop a pragmatic and eclectic approach to the field. Investigating existential phenomena such as grief is and should be a Martin Hägglund Reading Radical Atheism during my undergraduate studies in philosophy changed everything, as did This Life during this piece of work. The noncompromising spirit of your work remains my greatest source of intellectual inspiration, and it would be fair to say that this dissertation begins and ends on the last page of This Life: in the acknowledgment that "everything is at stake in what we do with our finite time together." Moreover, you hosted my research visit in New Haven and welcomed me to the world of Yale University. I treasure our meetings in New York, and your willingness to read and discuss my work. Martin Hauberg-Lund Laugesen and Lucas Lundbye Cone From some point early on, it was just "us." Our intellectual friendships keep surpassing themselves in various directions, and may our drunken Research Forum stay forever young. Never have I been wiser nor the two of you more quotable than after seven White Russians. Onwards!
<strong>Grief exists between the existential universal and the culturally specific. Questio... more <strong>Grief exists between the existential universal and the culturally specific. Questions related to how we best deal with grief in a contemporary clinical setting are not independent from its existential and transhistorical status. </strong><strong><br></strong> In the first part of our event, Sköld will pose fundamental questions about the ontological and ethical features of grief; what it is and how it constitutes and structures who we are. In Sköld's perspective, grief can only be conceived of in the intersection between relationality and finitude. We grieve because we lose the one's we love, and an elaboration of grief requires deeper understanding of these cornerstones of human existence. Drawing on phenomenological, psychoanalytic and deconstructivist frameworks, Sköld will discuss how a socio-ontological process of subjectification is inherently related to grief and loss. This theoretical corpus will be brought to life with reference to the personal narratives of his informants. <br> In the second part, Lund will elaborate how grief, as a cornerstone of human existence, is also a fundamental feature of society and culture – we have built our society on the one's before us. Based on this, he will discuss both how we might understand the current diagnosis as a manifestation of contemporary societal developments that tell us a great deal about ourselves and our relationship to our finitude. Finally, he will show how the troubled implementation process of the diagnosis in Denmark reveals that diagnoses are less guided by scientific progress and more by personal disagreements, professional discrepancies and economic interests.
Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to... more Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to death. Suffering makes us hide and act, love and kill. From the primal scream of the newly born to the oftenpainful last sip of air that we breathe, suffering pervades our entire lives. We feel it through the core nerve of our being, and suffering, in Kierkegaard's words, "nails us to ourselves". There is nowhere to hide and yet there is. The world was always one of others and through them, our lives acquire its form and its bearing. Yet these others cannot be trusted; they betray, grew old, sick and finally, they too must die. The relational shields that protect and mark who we are can alleviate but not protect us from suffering. As Løgstrup (1997) has suggested, it is through the irrevocable unshareability of suffering that the need to attest our inner experiences and articulate these through language or action emerges. It is thus the solitude of suffering that creates the active need to connect with others, and on the one hand, we find ourselves, with Alphonso Lingis' (1994) words, in "the community of those who have nothing in common". On the other, riots and revolutions often testify to the potential of suffering to unite across the borders that otherwise tends to diverge us. As Martin Hägglund (2019) has pointed out, all of us find ourselves thrown into a world that leaves much to wish for-none of us have asked for this life, and yet we are asked to carry it; to "own our lives". Mental states are never identical to brain states (Kripke, 1980) and the agonies that humans undergo always point to us as spiritual beings, to suffering being more than pain. Shortly after the world has begun to make sense, reflexivity kicks in and we all become, as Augustine puts it in his Confessions, "questions unto ourselves". Being human means experiencing that-while our actions are earnest attempts of responding to these questions, final answers remain out of reach, and we find
This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational und... more This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational understanding of subjectivity and an intergenerational notion of death awareness, the author develops a nonessentialist and nonpathological understanding of the experience of losing part of oneself following the death of another. Losing part of oneself refers, on the one hand, to a shattered subject trying to understand and come to terms with the death of another and a shared lifeworld that is irremediably altered. On the other hand, the partiality of this loss implies that the surviving person is forced to struggle with the quandaries of living on. Thus, a social ontology of grief captures the irreducible and painful aspects related to the loss of significant others, as well as the ethical predicaments related to continued existence, which are not exempt from possibilities and hope.
International Review of Theoretical Psychologies, Jul 10, 2021
In this paper, I seek to revitalize the concept of happiness by conceptualizing it as a relationa... more In this paper, I seek to revitalize the concept of happiness by conceptualizing it as a relational and instantaneous phenomenon with both existential, ethical and political dimensions. Happiness hapensin and through encounters, and it does so when we least expect it. Drawing on Bachelard's writings on 'the instant', as well as Gumbrecht's and Rosa's much related concepts of 'presence' and 'resonance', I attempt to formulate a more relational and nonvolitional counter-concept of happiness that blurs the border between eudemonic happiness and subjective well-being on the one hand and positive affect on the other. Safeguarding opportunities for these moments to happen is to be seen as vital in a contemporary society governed by individualization, rationalization and hedonistic principles. Even though one cannot choose to be happy, one can indeed lead a good life; colored by an openness towards the other and what might come.
This literature review examines qualitative studies on partner bereavement from the year 2000 to ... more This literature review examines qualitative studies on partner bereavement from the year 2000 to 2018. The aim is to investigate which perspectives, theories, and models are prominent in this research, and how contemporary sociocultural trends might be related hereto. After giving a brief account of grief research in a historical perspective with a point of departure in partner bereavement and the development of a qualitative methodology within grief research, the following five theoretical frameworks are presented on the background of a close reading of the included 18 studies: continuing bonds, meaning and narrative reconstruction, the dual process model, post-traumatic growth, and disenfranchised grief. In the discussion, I pinpoint how the popularity and influence of these frameworks are related to contemporary sociocultural tendencies and ideologies. It is suggested that a greater awareness with regard to the cultural mediation of experiences and understandings of grief would be beneficial. Specifically, I argue that all the reviewed frameworks-in different ways, remain disturbed by a contemporary inability of handling suffering and impossibilities.
Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger ... more Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger livet på jorden, og at den globalesituation er tiltagende kritisk, uden hermed at forfalde til nihilismeeller fortvivlelse. Dagens debat om klimakrisens emotionelle konsekvenserer i høj grad domineret af negative emotioner, såsomangst, sorg og endog depression. I lyset af en eskalerende opvarmningaf klodens overflade, og medfølgende klimaforandringer,betragtes håb ofte som både uhensigtsmæssigt og naivt. I denneartikel forsøger jeg at revitalisere håbets eksistentielle, etiske ogpolitiske betydning og argumenterer for, at det udgør en afgørendedel af vores stræben efter mere bæredygtige måder at leve på. Medudgangspunkt i dagdrømmen og dens helt centrale plads i ErnstBlochs tænkning forsøger jeg at åbne op for en forståelse af håb,som er funderet både i en konfrontation med afgørende begrænsningerog bevarelsen af en åben mulighedshorisont. Håb og dagdrømmeer intimt forbundne i det, at de begge udspiller sig i mellemrummet– mellem fantasi og virkelighed, nødvendighed ogmulighed. I den åbning, som samtidig blotlægger historicitetenslænker og tilværelsens radikale kontingens, finder vi kimen til en form for håb, som hverken er identisk med optimisme eller begær,men snarere bør betragtes som en relationelt forankret dyd – intimtforbundet med vores evne og vilje til at handle
Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to... more Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to death. Suffering makes us hide and act, love and kill. From the primal scream of the newly born to the oftenpainful last sip of air that we breathe, suffering pervades our entire lives. We feel it through the core nerve of our being, and suffering, in Kierkegaard's words, "nails us to ourselves". There is nowhere to hide and yet there is. The world was always one of others and through them, our lives acquire its form and its bearing. Yet these others cannot be trusted; they betray, grew old, sick and finally, they too must die. The relational shields that protect and mark who we are can alleviate but not protect us from suffering. As Løgstrup (1997) has suggested, it is through the irrevocable unshareability of suffering that the need to attest our inner experiences and articulate these through language or action emerges. It is thus the solitude of suffering that creates the active need to connect with others, and on the one hand, we find ourselves, with Alphonso Lingis' (1994) words, in "the community of those who have nothing in common". On the other, riots and revolutions often testify to the potential of suffering to unite across the borders that otherwise tends to diverge us. As Martin Hägglund (2019) has pointed out, all of us find ourselves thrown into a world that leaves much to wish for-none of us have asked for this life, and yet we are asked to carry it; to "own our lives". Mental states are never identical to brain states (Kripke, 1980) and the agonies that humans undergo always point to us as spiritual beings, to suffering being more than pain. Shortly after the world has begun to make sense, reflexivity kicks in and we all become, as Augustine puts it in his Confessions, "questions unto ourselves". Being human means experiencing that-while our actions are earnest attempts of responding to these questions, final answers remain out of reach, and we find
In this article I develop the notion of Being-towards-grief as a way of conceptualising the blurr... more In this article I develop the notion of Being-towards-grief as a way of conceptualising the blurred intersection between relationality and finitude. In contrast to an existential philosophical and psychological tradition that has privileged one's own death in a rationalised fashion, I argue that we become aware of death through the relentless possibility of the other dying and the uncertainty and distress that this implies. Furthermore, I suggest that this encounter is paramount to an inherently ethical process of subjectification. I become who I am through an encounter with the possibility of the death of the other and the responsibility that this implies. Instead of a resolute and future-oriented life affirmation, the death awareness that Being-towards-grief entails, points to an acceptance of and humbleness with regard to human limitations, and gratitude for a common past.
Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapt... more Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapter, I present the participants, examine what kind of knowledge can be generated by conducting interviews, situate the dissertation within its proper social and scientific context, discusses how the relationship between theory and empirical material is treated in this dissertation, and how to conceive of the role of the researcher. While there is no plausible way of understanding grief without its lived experience, any broadened understanding of that experience requires a firm theoretical grounding. In that light, I develop a pragmatic and eclectic approach to the field. Investigating existential phenomena such as grief is and should be a Martin Hägglund Reading Radical Atheism during my undergraduate studies in philosophy changed everything, as did This Life during this piece of work. The noncompromising spirit of your work remains my greatest source of intellectual inspiration, and it would be fair to say that this dissertation begins and ends on the last page of This Life: in the acknowledgment that "everything is at stake in what we do with our finite time together." Moreover, you hosted my research visit in New Haven and welcomed me to the world of Yale University. I treasure our meetings in New York, and your willingness to read and discuss my work.
Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger ... more Samtidig eksistenstænkning bør forholde sig til det faktum, at klimakriseni stigende grad præger livet på jorden, og at den globalesituation er tiltagende kritisk, uden hermed at forfalde til nihilismeeller fortvivlelse. Dagens debat om klimakrisens emotionelle konsekvenserer i høj grad domineret af negative emotioner, såsomangst, sorg og endog depression. I lyset af en eskalerende opvarmningaf klodens overflade, og medfølgende klimaforandringer,betragtes håb ofte som både uhensigtsmæssigt og naivt. I denneartikel forsøger jeg at revitalisere håbets eksistentielle, etiske ogpolitiske betydning og argumenterer for, at det udgør en afgørendedel af vores stræben efter mere bæredygtige måder at leve på. Medudgangspunkt i dagdrømmen og dens helt centrale plads i ErnstBlochs tænkning forsøger jeg at åbne op for en forståelse af håb,som er funderet både i en konfrontation med afgørende begrænsningerog bevarelsen af en åben mulighedshorisont. Håb og dagdrømmeer intimt forbundne i det, at de...
This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational und... more This article outlines a social ontology of grief. With the point of departure in a relational understanding of subjectivity and an intergenerational notion of death awareness, the author develops a nonessentialist and nonpathological understanding of the experience of losing part of oneself following the death of another. Losing part of oneself refers, on the one hand, to a shattered subject trying to understand and come to terms with the death of another and a shared lifeworld that is irremediably altered. On the other hand, the partiality of this loss implies that the surviving person is forced to struggle with the quandaries of living on. Thus, a social ontology of grief captures the irreducible and painful aspects related to the loss of significant others, as well as the ethical predicaments related to continued existence, which are not exempt from possibilities and hope.
Naervaerende temanummer om Kvalitativ psykologi udspringer af en konference arrangeret af vidensg... more Naervaerende temanummer om Kvalitativ psykologi udspringer af en konference arrangeret af vidensgruppen Qualitative Studies på Aalborg Universitet i maj, 2021. Baggrunden for konferencen var en intention om at samle forskere fra rundt om i landet med henblik på at diskutere, hvad kvalitativ psykologi er, bør og kan. På trods af at pandemien medførte et halvt års udskydelse, og at konferencen til sidst blev afholdt online, var der både god stemning, høj kvalitet på oplaeggene og bred appel til at fortsaette en tvaervidenskabelig diskussion omkring teoretiske, empiriske og metodiske spørgsmål knyttet til kvalitativ forskning-også udenfor psykologien. I forlaengelse af konferencen i 2021 blev Kvale-konferencen derfor etaberet som en årlig tilbagevendende begivenhed på baggrund af et konstruktivt samarbejde mellem Aalborg
Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapt... more Chapter 1, The Road, draws the methodological map for the qualitative study. Throughout the chapter, I present the participants, examine what kind of knowledge can be generated by conducting interviews, situate the dissertation within its proper social and scientific context, discusses how the relationship between theory and empirical material is treated in this dissertation, and how to conceive of the role of the researcher. While there is no plausible way of understanding grief without its lived experience, any broadened understanding of that experience requires a firm theoretical grounding. In that light, I develop a pragmatic and eclectic approach to the field. Investigating existential phenomena such as grief is and should be a Martin Hägglund Reading Radical Atheism during my undergraduate studies in philosophy changed everything, as did This Life during this piece of work. The noncompromising spirit of your work remains my greatest source of intellectual inspiration, and it would be fair to say that this dissertation begins and ends on the last page of This Life: in the acknowledgment that "everything is at stake in what we do with our finite time together." Moreover, you hosted my research visit in New Haven and welcomed me to the world of Yale University. I treasure our meetings in New York, and your willingness to read and discuss my work. Martin Hauberg-Lund Laugesen and Lucas Lundbye Cone From some point early on, it was just "us." Our intellectual friendships keep surpassing themselves in various directions, and may our drunken Research Forum stay forever young. Never have I been wiser nor the two of you more quotable than after seven White Russians. Onwards!
<strong>Grief exists between the existential universal and the culturally specific. Questio... more <strong>Grief exists between the existential universal and the culturally specific. Questions related to how we best deal with grief in a contemporary clinical setting are not independent from its existential and transhistorical status. </strong><strong><br></strong> In the first part of our event, Sköld will pose fundamental questions about the ontological and ethical features of grief; what it is and how it constitutes and structures who we are. In Sköld's perspective, grief can only be conceived of in the intersection between relationality and finitude. We grieve because we lose the one's we love, and an elaboration of grief requires deeper understanding of these cornerstones of human existence. Drawing on phenomenological, psychoanalytic and deconstructivist frameworks, Sköld will discuss how a socio-ontological process of subjectification is inherently related to grief and loss. This theoretical corpus will be brought to life with reference to the personal narratives of his informants. <br> In the second part, Lund will elaborate how grief, as a cornerstone of human existence, is also a fundamental feature of society and culture – we have built our society on the one's before us. Based on this, he will discuss both how we might understand the current diagnosis as a manifestation of contemporary societal developments that tell us a great deal about ourselves and our relationship to our finitude. Finally, he will show how the troubled implementation process of the diagnosis in Denmark reveals that diagnoses are less guided by scientific progress and more by personal disagreements, professional discrepancies and economic interests.
Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to... more Suffering points in every direction. It unites and separate us, makes us feel alive, yet close to death. Suffering makes us hide and act, love and kill. From the primal scream of the newly born to the oftenpainful last sip of air that we breathe, suffering pervades our entire lives. We feel it through the core nerve of our being, and suffering, in Kierkegaard's words, "nails us to ourselves". There is nowhere to hide and yet there is. The world was always one of others and through them, our lives acquire its form and its bearing. Yet these others cannot be trusted; they betray, grew old, sick and finally, they too must die. The relational shields that protect and mark who we are can alleviate but not protect us from suffering. As Løgstrup (1997) has suggested, it is through the irrevocable unshareability of suffering that the need to attest our inner experiences and articulate these through language or action emerges. It is thus the solitude of suffering that creates the active need to connect with others, and on the one hand, we find ourselves, with Alphonso Lingis' (1994) words, in "the community of those who have nothing in common". On the other, riots and revolutions often testify to the potential of suffering to unite across the borders that otherwise tends to diverge us. As Martin Hägglund (2019) has pointed out, all of us find ourselves thrown into a world that leaves much to wish for-none of us have asked for this life, and yet we are asked to carry it; to "own our lives". Mental states are never identical to brain states (Kripke, 1980) and the agonies that humans undergo always point to us as spiritual beings, to suffering being more than pain. Shortly after the world has begun to make sense, reflexivity kicks in and we all become, as Augustine puts it in his Confessions, "questions unto ourselves". Being human means experiencing that-while our actions are earnest attempts of responding to these questions, final answers remain out of reach, and we find
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Papers by Alfred Sköld