KHARON

Thanatology Review

Electronic Journal

Content

Volume 21

Number 4 · 2017

Original article


 CECÍLIA MOLNÁR
CECÍLIA MOLNÁR

nyelvész és magyar tanár

molnarcili@gmail.com

Journal

Abstract · When diagnosed with cancer, patients experience crisis, similarly to their beloved ones. In case the illness turns out to be incurable, their attitudes towards death keep changing while are they preparing their own selves for the loss. My journal records the period that I spent with my father from his diagnosis until his death, as well as the early stages of my grief. I decided to publish the edited version of my five-year-old journal in the hope that it may help others experiencing a similar crisis.

 EDINA GRADVOHL
EDINA GRADVOHL

főiskolai docens

gradvohle@se-etk.hu

 GYÖRGY NÉMETH
GYÖRGY NÉMETH

egyetemi tanár, tanszékvezető

A lethal laughter: the sardonic smile

Abstract · When we use the expression “sardonic smile”, it means “scornful laugh” and “ruthless scorn”. Its origin is explained in two ways: either it was named after the facial spasm caused by the poison of a plant from Sardinia or after a story in which elderly people are killed on this island. Killing elderly people is a regular motif in Greek narratives, a solution to fight overpopulation and lack of food. According to the sources, the only place where similar cases appeared was Keos, a 145 sq. km large, poor Greek island. However, there are so many contradictions among the Sardinian narratives of the above-mentioned assassinations that supposedly these must have been created simply as an explanation to the expression of the sardonic smile, after the “Keios” example.

 PETRA GEISZBÜHL-SZIMON
PETRA GEISZBÜHL-SZIMON

mentálhigiénés szakember,
emberi erőforrás szakember, közgazdász

pszimon@gmail.com

DR. LÁSZLÓ NEMES
DR. LÁSZLÓ NEMES

filozófus, bioetikus

nemeslal@hotmail.com

Death Café Budapest

Abstract · In this study we present the activity of the Death Café Budapest (DCB) team, which started in 2015. DCB follows the basic principles and practice of the international Death Café movement, and initiated open talks about death and death-related questions. In this study, we present two events that we organised, just to give a flavour about the questions and aspects we typically discuss in the Death Café. The conversation is on the one hand a philosophical discussion about the topic, but on the other hand, it is also a community activity which can help us to face our finiteness in a modern way.