IAPDD is a global organization of over 200 scholars engaged in the investigation of philosophical questions surrounding death and dying, including (but not limited to)
- the metaphysics of death, including personal identity, criteria for declaring death, etc.
- the possibility and/or desirability of immortality
- death as a harm or benefit
- death and life’s meaning
- reactions to death and dying (e.g., grief, ars moriendi and the ‘good death’), including emotions relating to death and the moral claims of the dead and of prior generations
- philosophical implications of death-related technologies (e.g., life extension, cryonics, digital remains, reanimations and digital representations of the dead)
- ethical and legal controversies related to death (suicide, organ donation, disposal of remains etc.)
- clinical and biomedical issues related to death and dying
- aesthetics of death and mortality
- social and cultural issues related to death (death, dying, and mourning in marginalized and underrepresented communities, e.g.)
IAPDD holds a global biennial conference. Previous conferences were held at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 2014; at Syracuse University in 2016; at Uppsala University in 2018; at Deakin University in 2022; and at Jagiellonian University, Krakow, in 2024.
For information about upcoming conferences, events, and opportunities, please contact us.
