Choices for Living: Coping with Fear of Dying (Path in Psychology) [Hardcover]

Thomas S. Langner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0306466074 | ISBN-13: 978-0306466076 | Edition: 1

Although many books are written about bereavement, very few are written about the fear of one's own death and most of these focus chiefly on terminal illness. In contrast, this book looks at the ways in which the fear of death operates on a back burner throughout our lives and how it influences the choices we make and the paths that we follow in life. The author presents a `moral hierarchy' of behavior used in coping with the fear of death and dying.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 308 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (February 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306466074
• ISBN-13: 978-0306466076
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,077,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excelent extension of Becker, March 26, 2008

By 

Tim the Duke (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choices for Living: Coping with Fear of Dying (Path in Psychology) (Hardcover)

Langner takes a wide view of the problem of man and the constructive and destructive ways he has of dealing with it. We all know, consciously or unconsciously that we are going to die. We have no direct evidence of an afterlife. In various events throughout life we experience our limitedness and to a great or lesser extent, sense our own mortality. We may or may not grasp the concept of the permanent state of non-existence that is death, but for most of us we know on some level it is an end.
Langner makes an exhaustive list, leaving no stone unturned, of the ways the human has of coping with his own finitude and temporariness and explores them all, drawing on the great works of the anthropologist Becker and the sociologist Durkheim, not to mention the comical works of Woody Allen. It is a well rounded work on the problem of our consciousness of death and dying and a good read for any arm-chair philosopher, and as well, I must assume, any therapist.
My only criticism is the brevity of the chapter on Procreation, which by the authors own admission is a sensitive subject for him (he has 6 children!).

2.0 out of 5 stars Text Books at bookstore, June 14, 2010

By 

Jack - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Choices for Living: Coping with Fear of Dying (Path in Psychology) (Hardcover)

From the title and the write up I was expecting something closer to the title. This is nothing more than a college text book, not what I was looking for. Thank you.
Jack Greenberg

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Front Cover, Really?, March 3, 2011

By 

MER - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choices for Living: Coping with Fear of Dying (Path in Psychology) (Hardcover)

In browsing through the various books on "fear of death," each one in its own right boasts a front cover, that frankly does nothing to set a tone of alleviation. The cover of this book makes me down right anxious. I'm not being funny here. For someone who is looking for help with such a debilitating anxiety, throw us a bone and don't make the front cover a depiction of our worst nightmare. I have not read this book just to be clear. And the cover assures that I will not.