Phenomenology and the ethics of dying: reclaiming the lived meaning of death in contemporary clinical practice in South Asia — a narrative review
Silva Shehan, Udayangani Ramadasa, Saroj Jayasinghe
Philosophy Ethics and Humanities in Medicine October 22, 2026 DOI: 10.1186/s13010-026-00239-w (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Narrative review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key findings | Argues that phenomenological ethics — foregrounding embodiment, finitude, relationality, and the disruption of worldhood in illness — is an essential corrective to procedural bioethics in end-of-life care. The authors contend that clinical objectification can eclipse the lived body, that accompanying the dying may be ethically preferable to futile treatment escalation, and that vulnerability calls for responsibility, presence, and restraint. They propose practical implications for critical and palliative care (temporal empathy, humanised communication, respectful touch, homeliness through family presence and ritual) and examine how dying is shaped across South Asia by under-resourced health systems, family-centred decision-making, culturally mediated truth-telling, and Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic frameworks. |
Abstract
Advances in biomedical technology have transformed dying into a prolonged, technological process in which clinical attention can drift from the person to physiological parameters. This narrative review argues that phenomenology offers an essential ethical corrective by foregrounding the lived experience of dying and complementing procedural bioethics, with particular attention to South Asia, where cultural, spiritual, and familial dimensions strongly shape end-of-life decisions. Drawing on classical phenomenologists and contemporary scholars of illness experience, the review synthesises insights on embodiment, finitude, relationality, and the disruption of worldhood in illness. These perspectives clarify how clinical objectification can eclipse the lived body, why accompanying the dying may be ethically preferable to the futile escalation of treatment, and how vulnerability calls forth responsibility, presence, and restraint. The review translates these themes into practical implications for critical and palliative care, emphasising temporal empathy, humanised communication, respectful touch, and the cultivation of homeliness through family presence and meaningful ritual. It further examines how dying is shaped across South Asia by overcrowded and under-resourced health systems, family-centred decision-making, and culturally mediated truth-telling. Particular attention is given to the region's religious and philosophical horizons of death: Hindu conceptions of karma, mokṣa, and the good death; Buddhist teachings on impermanence, non-self, and mindful dying in both Theravāda and Vajrayāna settings; and Islamic understandings of divine trust, patience, and the limits of intervention. Phenomenological ethics, the review concludes, supports end-of-life care that is clinically responsible, morally intelligible, and culturally resonant.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body Consciousness: A Philosophy of Mindfulness and Somaesthetics | 2008 | Review article | |
| Phenomenology, Structure, and Dynamic of Psychedelic States | 2016 | Review | |
| Classic Hallucinogens and Mystical Experiences: Phenomenology and Neural Correlates. | 2018 | Review | |
| The lived experience of psychosis: a bottom-up review co-written by experts by experience and academics. Individuals with lived experience of psychosis, family members, and carers | 2022 | Co-written bottom-up review | |
| From autopoiesis to neurophenomenology: Francisco Varela's exploration of the biophysics of being. | 2003 | Review |