This dissertation is arranged in three parts which address issues concerning death and immortality. These issues all revolve around the temporal limit imposed by death. I have endeavoured to pose some questions which have relevance to a society clutching onto traditional notions of an afterlife despite its headlong thrust into a technologically advanced future where ethical confusions abound. In the first chapter I examine the metaphysics of the soul because postulating an afterlife is the conventional response to death anxiety. I have noticed that many people cling to hope of immortality without having any understanding of the metaphysical architecture of this hope. Consequently, from a philosophical perspective, I contrast arguments on the soul by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas and Descartes. The second chapter emerges from a fascination with Epicurus's theory of living and, derivatively, of dying. It involves a comparison with (1) Aristotle's distinction between energeia (actuality) and kinesis (movement), and (2) the sybaritic hedonism of the Cyrenaics. Although the theme of this chapter is pleasure, it will be seen that pleasure lies embedded in the living project and is an important component in the drive for survival. In the third chapter I reflect on the meaning of life in conjunction with length of time lived. Here I compare the meaninglessness experienced by Leo Tolstoy (because his life is too short) and the meaninglessness experienced by the fictional character Elena Makropulos (because her life is too long). The Makropulos "case", both a play by Karel Capek and an opera by Leos Janacek, was introduced into the philosophical world by Bernard Williams.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington. / Bibliography: l. 191-201.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 1991. / On t.p. ḥiym appears in Hebrew script. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [229]-254).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-168).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2009. / Title from file title page. Tim O'Keefe, committee chair ; Andrew I. Cohen, Jessica Berry, committee members. Electronic text (53 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed October 24, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 53).

Thesis (Th. M.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-168).

Members of People Unlimited Inc, maintain that they are proof that physical immortality is possible, despite the death of their founder. In this dissertation, I address the paradox of immortalist lifeworlds: how can members of People Unlimited maintain that they are immortal, yet also claim that members are still susceptible to death? This dissertation is about how imagined futures make up the present for radical life extension (RLE) activists, who form part of an emergent immortalist biosocial landscape where anticipation acts as a way of recognizing the future as a model for the present. Understanding how immortalists can claim to be physically immortal in the present, yet always working toward immortality, requires consideration of the cultures and communities within the broader RLE movement, human relationships to finitude, relationships between science and religion, and biomedical imaginaries. Since little ethnographic data exists on these communities, the goal of my research is to provide a general overview of the contemporary social phenomena of immortality, with an ethnographic focus on People Unlimited and Alcor Life Extension, both in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the broader RLE community that attends the yearly Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival (RAADfest) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The dissertation argues that RLE is an emergent form of biosocial citizenship among healthy individuals, whose present biological limitations are overcome by an orientation towards the future. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Members of People Unlimited Inc, maintain that they are proof that physical immortality is possible, despite the death of their founder. In this dissertation, I address the paradox of immortalist lifeworlds: how can members of People Unlimited maintain that they are immortal, yet also claim that members are still susceptible to death? I argue that for many immortalists, anticipation acts as a way of recognizing the future as a model for the present. I explore how radical life extension activists, including immortalists, transhumanist, cryonicists, and others, create immortal futures through self-care regimens in the present. I connect their future and present by examining the promissory and hopeful discourses of modern bioeconomies, and the forms of affect used in the creation of immortal biosocial worlds.

The Tide Lords series of fantasy novels set out to examine the issue of immortality. Its purpose was to look at the desirability of immortality, specifically why people actively seek it. It was meant to examine the practicality of immortality, specifically — having got there, what does one do to pass the time with eternity to fill? I also wished to examine the notion of true immortality — immortals who could not be killed. What I did not anticipate when embarking upon this series, and what did not become apparent until after the series had been sold to two major publishing houses in Australia and the US, was the strength of the immortality tropes. This series was intended to fly in the face of these tropes, but confronted with the reality of such a work, the Australian publishers baulked at the ideas presented, requesting the series be re-written with the tropes taken into consideration. They wanted immortals who could die, mortals who wanted to be immortal. And a hero with a sense of humour. This exegesis aims to explore where these tropes originated. It will also discuss the ways I negotiated a way around the tropes, and was eventually able to please the publishers by appearing to adhere to the tropes, while still staying true to the story I wanted to tell. As such, this discussion is, in part, an analysis of how an author negotiates the tensions around writing within a genre while trying to innovate within it.

Surprisingly little experimental research has explored the psychological function of soul belief given its prevalence. As some have noted (e.g., Rank, 1930/1998), soul belief may have evolved to help individuals cope with existential concerns through promises of literal immortality. The research that has been conducted on the function of literal immortality shows that belief in an afterlife minimizes death-related concerns (Dechesne et al., 2003). I propose two separate hypotheses testing the psychological function of soul belief. Hypothesis 1 states that soul belief should minimize the threat of a death reminder (or mortality salience; MS); this hypothesis was supported in Study 1 where soul believers did not show an increase in death-thought accessibility (DTA) following MS, but low soul believers did show an increase. Hypothesis 2 states that soul belief should also offer protection from threats to symbolic immortality related to the prospect of the end-of-world. Studies 2, 3, 4, and 6 support the reasoning behind this hypothesis. However, Study 5 did not support Hypothesis 2. Considering the data that did support Hypothesis 2, soul believers showed less resistance to end-of-world arguments and also did not show an increase in DTA following such arguments; whereas, low soul believers respond to end-of-world arguments with more resistance and heightened DTA. The discussion focuses on interpretations of these findings and remaining questions.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude d'un chef-d'uvre de la littérature fantastique : Dracula, roman que Bram Stoker avait écrit à la fin du XIXème siècle et qui n'a jamais cessé de faire rêver les générations. Doté de pouvoirs extraordinaires, Dracula apparaît comme une énigme à déchiffrer. A travers le fantastique, nous nous proposons de découvrir la véritable signification de cet être étrange et de préciser la place et le rôle de l'archétype initiatique dans le roman. Dans une première partie notre objectif est d'étudier l'émergence du phénomène fantastique et du personnage du vampire, en suivant sa naissance dans la littérature, et en retrouvant ses origines dans la mythologie et l'histoire. La deuxième partie est consacrée au fantastique dans Dracula. Elle met en lumière l'espace, les personnages, l'image et les pouvoirs surnaturels du vampire. Dans la troisième et dernière partie, il s'agit d'analyser l'approche psychanalytique du fantastique dans le roman en mettant en valeur l'image érotique, le problème du mal et les différents conflits psychanalytiques présents dans Dracula. / This thesis is devoted to the study of the master piece from the Fantastic literature: Dracula, a novel that Bram Stoker wrote around the end of the XIXth century and that has relentlessly inspired mankind one generation after the other. Gifted with extraordinary powers, Dracula emerged as an enigma that required deciphering. Across the Fantastic, we attempt to discover the real implications of this mysterious being and to point out the position and role of the initiating archetype in the novel. The aim of the first part of the thesis is to study the emergence of the Fantastic phenomenon and of the vampire character through following its birth trail across the literature and tracking its origins in mythology and history. The second part deals with the Fantastic aspect of the novel. It highlights the setting, the characters in addition to portraying the image and the supernatural powers of the vampire. The third and last part deals with the analysis of the psychoanalytical approach of the Fantastic within the novel through appreciating the erotic image, the problem of evil and the different psychoanalytical conflicts present within Dracula.