The thesis that underlies this paper is comprised of a paradox. Although, as modern literature discloses, death has been marginalized in our public life and awareness as well as in humanist discourse, yet simultaneously, according to Theodor Adorno it “has become something which has never yet been so feared”. The paradox leads us to a philosophical re-evaluation of the existential meaning of death after Martin Heidegger and to an investigation of not only the consequences of the marginalization…
Read moreThe thesis that underlies this paper is comprised of a paradox. Although, as modern literature discloses, death has been marginalized in our public life and awareness as well as in humanist discourse, yet simultaneously, according to Theodor Adorno it “has become something which has never yet been so feared”. The paradox leads us to a philosophical re-evaluation of the existential meaning of death after Martin Heidegger and to an investigation of not only the consequences of the marginalization of death but also of the roots of this phenomenon. Our investigation will trace the presence of the phenomenon in selected works of modern literature and philosophy, e.g. Franz Kafka’s The Trial, Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, Martin Heidegger’s Being and Time and Theodor Adorno’s Negative Dialectics, which purposely venture into the margins of public discourse and culture.
