An exploration of one of the most universal human obsessions charts the rise of longevity science from its alchemical beginnings to modern-day genetic interventions and enters the world of those whose lives are shaped by a belief in immortality.

his paper on primitive burial customs placed the study of the belief in immortality and the worship of the dead in a new light. He has now given us the first instalment of a comprehensive survey of the whole institution. Psychical and ceremonial though it is, the doctrine and cult form an institution as deserving of the name as political government. The belief in some degree of immortality has been practically universal, and is still a "last infirmity of noble mind"; some form of "worship,"fear of the ghost or actual veneration of the deified ancestor, has accompanied the belief in the case of the majority of peoples. The author acutely points out, for the consideration of "historians and economists, as well as of moralists and theologians,"that the direct consequences of this moral institution have been grave and far-reaching, such as no mere sentiment could have produced, not only in primitive but in civilised history. Natural theology, and the three modes of handling it, the dogmatic, the philosophical, and the historical.

Provides an accessible account of the variety and subtlety of Greek and Roman philosophy of death, from Homer to Marcus Aurelius.

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Can we who have been touched by the scientific, intellectual, and experimental revolutions of modern and contemporary times still believe with and degree of coherence and consistency that we as individual persons are immortal. Indeed, is there even good cause to hope that we are? In examining the present relationship of reason to faith, can we find justifying reasons for faith? These are the central questions in Self, God, and Immortality, a compelling exercise in philosophical theology. Drawing upon the works of William James and the principles of American Pragmatism, Eugene Fontinell extrapolates carefully from "data given in experience" to a model of the cosmic process open to the idea that individual identity may survive bodily dissolution. Presupposing that the possibility of personal immortality has been established in the first part, the second part of the essay is concerned with desirability. Here, Fontinell shows that, far from diverting attention and energies from the crucial tasks confronting us here and now, such belief can be energizing and life enhancing. The wider importance of Self, God, and Immortality lies in its pressing both immortality-believers and terminality-believers to explore both the metaphysical presuppositions and the lived consequences of their beliefs. It is the author's expressed hope that such explorations, rather than impeding, will stimulate co-operative efforts to create a richer and more humane community.