Pushing Near-Death Experiences (II)
Oxford Scholarship Online September 20, 2018 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190888848.003.0014 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Argues that new reanimation techniques and the redefinition of death as "irreversible coma" served as push factors for the increase in near-death experiences and their reporting in the 1960s and 1970s. |
Abstract
A second “push factor” for the increase of near-death experiences (and their reporting), emerging in the 1960s and 1970s, is the introduction of new reanimation techniques that increased the relative and absolute numbers of individuals surviving critical situations (such as heart attacks). In addition, the chapter discusses the impact of the broadly accepted new definition of death, namely, death as “irreversible coma.” This chapter demonstrates the impact of both, the innovation of reanimation measures and the brain-death discourse, on near-death experiences and near-death discourse—visible in the publications of Moody, who, for example, remained skeptical toward the definition of brain death.