Studies of "near-death experiences" show that such experiences not
only provide a new certainty of post-mortem survival, but often
function as a call for fundamental change in the present. Reported
aftereffects encompass changes in attitudes, beliefs, and life
orientation. It is said that "experiencers" have lost their fear of
death, found their purpose in life, or become "more spiritual." The
experience often declared to be indescribable, inexplicable, or
ineffable is held by many to be the most important of their lives
and, moreover, the best proof available for matters "transcendent."
In What Is It Like To Be Dead?, Jens Schlieter argues that to
understand recent testimonies of near-death experiences, we need to
be aware of the history of innumerable reports of earlier
near-death experiences that were communicated and handed down in
scores of newspapers, journals, and books. Collections of such
testimonies have been published for more than 150 years,
accompanied by attempts to classify and interpret them. Schlieter
analyzes the religious relevance of near-death experiences for the
experiencers themselves, but also for the growing audience
attracted by these testimonies. Near-death experiences bear
ontological, epistemic, intersubjective, and moral significance,
ranging from reassurance that religious experience is still
possible to claims that they initiate a new spiritual orientation
in life, or offer evidence for the transcultural validity of
afterlife beliefs. This study is the first to document and analyze
four centuries of near-death testimonies before the codification of
the genre in the 1970s, offering the first full account of the
modern genealogy of "near-death experiences."
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