Death and Dying
To understand people's attitudes toward death and dying, we must first explore how people make sense of the world around them. There are two realities we all experience, the physical reality of objects and the symbolic reality we attribute to them. Reality in the latter sense is socially constructed, that is, the attributes we give reality are largely controlled by the society we live in. For example, the physical reality of granite is a scientifically provable fact. Granite has a certain chemical composition, specific gravity, hardness, et cetera. All of those attributes are easily measurable and established characteristics of granite. The importance of granite, however, is in its symbolism. Granite is tough and hard, enduring and strong. So we talk about "granite resolve." We also take granite, cut it, shape it, polish it, and inscribe it to make memorial stones placed on gravesites. It becomes the example of of the love we have for the deceased, and our resolve not to forget them.
People think and behave in response to symbols, this is what makes them so powerful that they define reality for us. In our Judeo-Christian symbolic system, life and death are of great importance. Life is viewed as sacred, a gift from God, death is a punishment for being human (at least since the Fall From Grace). This basic tenet shapes all our thoughts about life and death, as it shapes our symbolic interpretation. To get a better idea of how powerful these ideas are, consider the following: When is a person alive?When is a person dead?
At face value, these appear to be pretty easy questions to answer, but the reality of it is that these have been philosophical questions since man first developed the ability to contemplate life. If we were debating abortion we might come up with a variety of possibilities. At conception when the sperm and egg first get together, at the point of a given number of cell divisions, when there is a heartbeat, when brain activity is detectable, when the embryo is viable outside the womb with assistance, when the embryo is viable outside the womb without assistance; all have been offered as the beginning of life. And that is just in our society where we have a common set of beliefs and symbols. In some societies the embryo is not a person (and thus alive for social purposes) until it has been brought into the village and presented.
The second question is, of course, a continuation of the first. Once a person is considered alive, when is s/he no longer alive? When brain function ceases? When organs shut down? These aren't necessarily the ones we use. With modern technology we can maintain body function indefinitely if one has access to the technology and the resources necessary to afford treatment. When talking about assisted suicide we might take the approach that when a person no longer can maintain quality of life at a particular level, they can be considered dead and the assisted suicide is just to take care of the formalities. Again in some societies, when a member is no longer productive, they are considered dead.