Abstract · This review of the book Consciousness Beyond Life. The Science of the Near-Death Experience by Dutch cardiologist and NDE-researcher Pim van Lommel describes the phenomenon of near-death experiences, their typical elements and common consequences. It touches upon international retrospective NDE research and presents in more detail the Dutch NDE research of 1988-1996.In the latter a prospective research method was used recording all medical data of 344 patients with a cardiac arrest. After they regained consciousness, 62 patiens reported an NDE, recorded in each case. The study was repeated 2 and 8 years later, whereby the long-term consequences of NDE were examined. Beyond NDE’s, the main focus of the book is the relationship between the human brain and consciousness. Based on various consciousness phenomena including NDE’s, Van Lommel comes to the conclusion that human consciousness is not produced by the brain, and supports this theory of nonlocality based on parallels from quantum physics.He also examines the practical everyday relevance of his theory and calls for more openness and awareness raising in health care to faciliate a better integration of the NDE. Van Lommel’s work is a milestone in our attitude to our functioning as humans and to death, and should be considered for a more comprehensive understanding of ourselves and the vital issues of human existence.

Abstract · The essay focuses on John Berryman’s poem Of Suicide. Berryman was among the best known American poets of the 20th century. This piece of work also has a Hungarian translation by István Jánosy. As it turns out in the biography of Berryman, his father committed suicide when the poet was 11 years old only, and also Berryman did it later at age 62. In my approach, I claim that knowing about these tragical life events does not help to understand the poem in its details. Given that allusions to Epictetus and Luke seem to be especially significant in the poem, the essay aims to reply to the question of how the thoughts of these two authors relate to the poem; and how Berryman uses and rewrites them. Above all, I aim to elaborate on two ideas by interpreting the work of Berryman: first, I review the assumptions of stoic philosophy on death and suicide, then I reflect on Beatitudes and Woes of Luke.

Abstract · The Gregorian chant repertory contains the sung prayers and chants of the Western Church. This paper is focused on the Matin Responsories of the Dead. In the Middle Ages (9th to 15th centuries), chanters played an important role in the composition of chants: they were not only performers, but intellectuals with interests and knowledge in theology, philosophy, poetry, music and choreography. The Matin Responsories were generally performed in alternation by the chanter and the chorus. The texts of these Responsories are mainly quotations from the Bible. In the text of the Responsories, shorter fragments appear which are not quotations, but adaptations of biblical texts in non-metrical verses. These text adaptations or short fragments are evidences of the chanter’s contibution to the creative process of the Matin Responsories..

Abstract · Within the medical humanities, the literary depictions of illness and death, the tragic artistic genres are badly underrepresented. The usual fictitious and non-fictitious illness narratives, (auto)pathographies follow the model of the modern novel, trying to create some narrative coherence, with the very aim of finding or constructing a kind of meaning in various life-events. However, end of life bioethical cases which gained large publicity do not fit well into this pattern, showing instead the characteristics of more dramatic genres. The presentation of ultimate life and death dilemmas still should be regarded as sources of a tragic worldview, further enriching the horizon of medical humanities.

Abstract · The death of the Other is a poignant existential experience, as it confronts us not just with the feeling of loss, but our own finitude. The processing of this experience can be called the rationalization of death, as we try to give meaning to it and so find consolation. Through various traditions, folk culture helped people to process the death of the Other in the past, but these forms have mainly lost their appeal, so we are in need of new tools and methods. Philosophy and literature could help us create a new language for the experience of the finality of death. The aim of this paper is to offer some examples for this, taken from contemporary Hungarian literature, especially Krisztián Peer’s poems.