Objective: This assignment aims to explore the concept of symbolic immortality through a critical reflection on selected readings and a film. By engaging with the materials, you will analyze how different cultures and philosophical perspectives understand and cope with death, and how these perspectives provide a sense of immortality.
Readings and Film (use at least 4):
*Conklin, Beth A. “Hunting the Ancestors: Death and Alliance in Wari’ Cannibalism.”
*Plato, “The Apology of Socrates” (W.H.D. Rouse translation).
*Lifton, Robert Jay, and Eric Olson. “Symbolic Immortality.”
Film: “The Phone of the Wind: Whispers to Lost Families” Links to an external site. (2016).
[Readings marked with * are available in the folder titled “Paper 3”]
Some ideas to consider while writing:
1. Introduction: Begin with a brief overview of the concept of symbolic immortality as discussed by Lifton and Olson. Define the term and explain its relevance to human societies and individual psychology. Does the concept of symbolic immortality assume the existence of “non-symbolic” immortality?
2. Analysis: Select at 4 of the provided readings and the film to explore how the concept of symbolic immortality is portrayed and understood in different cultural and philosophical contexts. For example, you could:
Discuss how the Wari’ people, as described by Conklin, understand and practice symbolic immortality through their funerary cannibalism and beliefs about ancestors.
Analyze Socrates’ perspective on death and immortality in Plato’s “Apology,” focusing on his arguments about the soul and the afterlife.
Reflect on the film “The Phone of the Wind: Whispers to Lost Families” and how it portrays symbolic immortality through the act of communication with lost loved ones.
Comparative Reflection: Compare and contrast the different approaches to symbolic immortality in the readings and the film. Consider questions such as:
How do different cultures and philosophies create and sustain a sense of immortality?
What are the psychological and social functions of these beliefs and practices?
How do these practices and beliefs help individuals and communities cope with the reality of death?
Questions to Guide Your Reflection on the readings:
1.How does the Wari’ practice of cannibalism serve as a form of symbolic immortality? What does this practice reveal about their understanding of life, death, and the afterlife?
2.In “The Apology,” how does Socrates argue for the immortality of the soul? How does his view of death challenge or support contemporary views on symbolic immortality?
3.How does the film “The Phone of the Wind” illustrate the concept of symbolic immortality? What emotions and thoughts are evoked through the act of speaking to lost loved ones?
4.How do Lifton and Olson’s categories of symbolic immortality (biological, creative, theological, natural, and experiential) apply to the readings and the film? Can you identify examples of each category in the materials?
5.What are the similarities and differences in the ways that the Wari’, Socrates, and the families in the film find meaning and continuity beyond death?
6.How do these different perspectives on symbolic immortality influence the way individuals and societies confront the inevitability of death?
Submission Guidelines:
paper should be 1000 words in length.
Use proper citations for the readings and the film.
Provide a clear and coherent argument supported by evidence from the texts and the film
