Matthew Taylor, Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, discusses healthcare and assisted dying. Ash Sarkar, a contributor to Novara Media, dives into the social implications of mortality. Anne McElvoy from Politico offers a political lens on death, while Charlotte Haigh shares personal insights as a funeral director. Anton Noble explores young people's views on violence and death. Teodora Manea provides philosophical reflections, emphasizing the importance of confronting mortality for a richer understanding of life. Insights span from the historical context of death to its modern societal impacts.
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insights INSIGHT
Fear of Dying vs. Death
People fear dying more than death itself.
Acknowledging mortality can encourage a more meaningful life.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Embrace Mortality
Don't suppress fear of death; hold it lightly.
Use mortality awareness to improve your life and help others.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Death Cafes
Charlotte Haigh started exploring death by hosting death cafes.
These cafes provide a space for strangers to discuss death openly over tea and cake.
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In 'The Denial of Death', Ernest Becker discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of how people and cultures react to the concept of death. He argues that human civilization is a defense mechanism against the knowledge of our mortality, and that this denial is a necessary component of functioning in the world. Becker's work challenges traditional Freudian thought by positing that the primary repression is not sexuality, but rather the awareness of death. He also explores how this fear of death leads to the creation of 'hero systems' and symbols that help individuals transcend their mortality, and how this can result in violence and conflict when different immortality projects clash[2][5][4].
The debate around assisted dying exposes fundamental questions about our attitudes to death. We will all die. Nothing is more certain. But it’s not something most of us really think about, apart from superficially. We can often think of death as something that happens to other people. There’s a paradox – we are more distanced from death than our ancestors, yet we are exposed to it every day in the news and value it as a key component of art and entertainment. We can have a morbid fascination with death but a fear of confronting our own mortality.
While, fear, anxiety and avoidance are deeply human responses, are they good for us both psychologically and morally? Those advocating a “death positive” approach see honest conversations about death and dying as the cornerstone of a healthy society. In theory, thinking about your death should put your life into perspective and direct your actions towards things that are good for you and others. But is that necessarily the case? Should death ever be seen as anything less than a tragedy? During the pandemic, there were concerns about the subtle messaging around the ‘acceptability’ of some deaths over others. In conflict, repeated exposure to death causes a callus to form, where there may be less empathy for the dead as a survival mechanism for the living.
Does a greater openness and acceptance of death help us to live better lives? Or can losing the fear of death mean we lose something of what it means to be human? What is a healthy attitude to death?
Chair: Michael Buerk
Panel: Matthew Taylor, Ash Sarkar, Konstantin Kisin and Anne McElvoy
Witnesses: Charlotte Haigh, Anton Noble, Victoria Holmes, Teodora Manea.
Producer: Dan Tierney
Assistant producer: Ruth Purser
Editor: Gill Farrington and Chloe Walker.
Moral Maze 
