What is it about?
We all experience loss in the course of our lives. Mourning is often seen as a emotionally painful process that arises in the wake of significant loss. This paper asks whether mourning can be seen as a ethical virtue. Although painful, does mourning ultimately contribute to human happiness and flourishing?
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Why is it important?
We are in a moment in history where we are collectively coming to terms with the massive losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic - the loss of life, of health, of friends and family, of livelihood, to name a few. How are we to cope with these losses? This paper examines what is involved in the process of coming to terms with significant loss, and how we might find a way to flourish as the kind of beings whose lives are marked with emotionally painful loss.
Perspectives
Although this article may seem quite theoretical, it comes from a very personal place. I experienced many kinds of loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. I lost loved ones, my career as an academic philosopher came to an end, and I experienced identity crises as I could not pursue the hobbies and interests which anchored my sense of self. This article represents my attempt to work through these experiences of loss, to try to make sense of them, and to see how one my live well with life's transience.
Simon Thornton
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Mourning and repetition., Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, July 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/teo0000328.
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