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... > social science subjects > sociology > aging and the life course > death and dying > conceptualizations of death > clinical perspectives on death > thanatology
... > social science subjects > health and social care > health sciences > death and dying > conceptualizations of death > clinical perspectives on death > thanatology
... > social science subjects > psychology > behavior mechanisms > human development > death and dying > conceptualizations of death > clinical perspectives on death > thanatology
... > social science subjects > counseling and psychotherapy > counseling > human development and life transitions > death and dying > conceptualizations of death > clinical perspectives on death > thanatology

Preferred term

thanatology  

Definition

  • The Oxford English Dictionary defines thanatology as “the scientific study of death, its causes and phenomena.” Also (U.S. origin), “the study of the effects of approaching death and of the needs of the terminally ill and their families.” The word thanatology first appeared in 1842 in a British medical lexicon. By the mid-1970s, thanatology was recognized as a special area of study, and Lawrence Stone referred to thanatology in a 1977 book review of Growing Old in America as a special branch of learning exemplified by historians of death, like Philippe Aries and Michel Vovelle, who have promoted the topic. [Source: Encyclopedia of Death and the Human Experience; Thanatology]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/thanatology

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