A Critical Review of the Dualism of Life and Death in the Structure of Meaningfulness in Ervin Yalom's Novels Based on ‘Allāma Ja’farī's Thought

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Islamic Education, Farhangian University

2 Research Assistant

10.22081/nir.2026.71460.1484

Abstract

Death is a universal and pervasive concern that no human being can avoid facing; therefore, deciphering this phenomenon is not in the exclusive domain of philosophers and thinkers; rather, it is a concern that everyone seeks to unravel according to their own circumstances. Ervin Yalom, a renowned psychotherapist of the present era, considers “death-awareness” as one of the four fundamental and ultimate concerns of man in his existential approach and has explored the relationship of this concept with life and its meaning in his novels. On the other hand, ‘Allāma Ja‘farī, as one of the prominent contemporary thinkers, clearly explains the interpretation of death in light of “reasonable life” and has a coherent and methodical view of the phenomenon of the meaningfulness of life. The authors of the present article, using the descriptive-analytical method, have critically reviewed the relationship between death and life within the framework of the meaningfulness of life, in Yalom’s novels, and in light of ‘Allāma Ja‘farī’s views. The outcome of this research show that death-awareness brings along such achievements as full enjoyment of life, the inextricable link between death and life and its impact on human actions, the richness of existence, acceptance of fate and better living, individual sublimation, appreciation of life values, and observing ethics in a meaningful living world. However, from the perspective of ‘Allāma Ja‘farī, the most important flaws in Yalom's perspective are: substituting "thrownness" for "purposefulness", "pure gazing at death" for "understanding the truth of life", "instrumental functionalism in religion" for "preservation of the authenticity attitude", and "forgery of meaning" for "discovery of meaning".

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References

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