View source for Death

{{Short description|Permanent end of an organism's life}}
{{For|the figure sometimes referred to as Death|Personifications of death}}
{{redirect|Dead||Dead (disambiguation)|and|Death (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect|Deceased|the band|Deceased (band)}}
{{redir|Deaths|a list|Lists of deaths}}
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{{Use American English|date=August 2025}}
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[[File:Hendrick Andriessen - Vanity Piece - 1914-DE - Museum of Fine Arts Ghent (MSK).jpg|alt=A 17th century painting of various objects, the most prominent of which is a human skull.|thumb|The [[human skull]] is used universally as a symbol of death.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Glennys Howarth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5GK2AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA416 |title=Encyclopedia of Death and Dying |author2=Oliver Leaman |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-136-91360-0 |page=416}}</ref>]]
'''Death''' is the end of [[life]], the [[Irreversible process|irreversible]] cessation of all [[biological process|biological functions]] that sustain a living [[organism]].<ref>{{Dictionary.com|death|access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref> Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to [[Decomposition|decompose]] shortly after death.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hayman |first1=Jarvis |title=Human body decomposition |last2=Oxenham |first2=Marc |date=2016 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-12-803713-3 |location=Amsterdam |oclc=945734521}}</ref> Some organisms, such as ''[[Turritopsis dohrnii]]'', are [[Biological immortality|biologically immortal]]; however, they can still die from means other than [[Senescence|aging]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Masamoto |first1=Yui |last2=Piraino |first2=Stefano |last3=Miglietta |first3=Maria Pia |date=December 2019 |title=Transcriptome Characterization of Reverse Development in Turritopsis dohrnii (Hydrozoa, Cnidaria) |journal=G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=4127–4138 |doi=10.1534/g3.119.400487 |pmc=6893190 |pmid=31619459 }}</ref> Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the equivalent for individual components of an organism, such as [[Cell (biology)|cells]] or [[Tissue (biology)|tissues]], is [[necrosis]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Proskuryakov |first1=Sergey Y.a |last2=Konoplyannikov |first2=Anatoli G |last3=Gabai |first3=Vladimir L |title=Necrosis: a specific form of programmed cell death? |journal=Experimental Cell Research |date=February 2003 |volume=283 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |doi=10.1016/s0014-4827(02)00027-7 |pmid=12565815 }}</ref> Something that is not considered an organism can be physically destroyed but is not said to die, as it is not considered alive in the first place.

As of the early 21st century, 56 million people die per year. The most common reason is [[aging]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Ruotong |last2=Cheng |first2=Xunjie |last3=Yang |first3=Yang |last4=C. Schwebel |first4=David |last5=Ning |first5=Peishan |last6=Li |first6=Li |last7=Rao |first7=Zhenzhen |last8=Cheng |first8=Peixia |last9=Zhao |first9=Min |last10=Hu |first10=Guoqing |title=Global Deaths Associated with Population Aging — 1990–2019 |journal=China CDC Weekly |date=2023 |volume=5 |issue=51 |pages=1150–1154 |doi=10.46234/ccdcw2023.216 |pmid=38152634 |pmc=10750162 }}</ref> followed by [[cardiovascular disease]], which is a [[disease]] that affects the [[heart]] or [[blood vessel]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Richtie |first1=Hannah |last2=Spooner |first2=Fiona |last3=Roser |first3=Max |date=February 2018 |title=Causes of death |url=https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death#:~:text=Cardiovascular%20diseases%20are%20the%20leading,second%20biggest%20cause%20are%20cancers. |url-status=live |journal=Our World in Data |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520193352/https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death#:~:text=Cardiovascular%20diseases%20are%20the%20leading,second%20biggest%20cause%20are%20cancers. |archive-date=20 May 2018 |access-date=February 14, 2023}}</ref> As of 2022, an estimated total of almost 110 billion humans have died, or roughly 94% of all humans to have ever lived.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Routley |first=Nick |date=2022-03-25 |title=How Many Humans Have Ever Lived? |url=https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/how-many-humans-have-ever-lived/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328104311/https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/how-many-humans-have-ever-lived/ |archive-date=2022-03-28 |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Visual Capitalist}}</ref> A substudy of [[gerontology]] known as [[biogerontology]] seeks to eliminate death by natural aging in humans, often through the application of natural processes found in certain organisms.<ref name="Stambler-2017" /> However, as humans do not have the means to apply this to themselves, they have to use other ways to reach the [[maximum lifespan]] for a human, often through [[Lifestyle (social sciences)|lifestyle]] changes, such as [[Calorie restriction|calorie reduction]], [[dieting]], and [[exercise]].<ref name="Fontana-2010" /> The idea of [[lifespan extension]] is considered and studied as a way for people to live longer.

Determining when a person has definitively died has proven difficult. Initially, death was defined as occurring when breathing and the heartbeat ceased, a status still known as [[clinical death]].<ref name="US President's Commission -1981" /> However, the development of [[cardiopulmonary resuscitation]] (CPR) meant that such a state was no longer strictly irreversible.<ref name="US Department of the Army-1999" /> [[Brain death]] was then considered a more fitting option, but several definitions exist for this. Some people believe that all brain functions must cease. Others believe that even if the [[brainstem]] is still alive, the [[Personal identity|personality and identity]] are irretrievably lost, so therefore, the person should be considered entirely dead.<ref name="Zaner-2011" /> Brain death is sometimes used as a legal definition of death.<ref>{{Dictionary.com|brain death|access-date=2021-02-27}}</ref> For all organisms with a brain, death can instead be focused on this organ.<ref>{{Citation |last=DeGrazia |first=David |title=The Definition of Death |date=2021 |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/death-definition/ |access-date=2022-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220723222746/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/death-definition/ |archive-date=23 July 2022 |url-status=live |edition=Summer 2021 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Parent |first1=B |last2=Turi |first2=A |title=Death's Troubled Relationship With the Law |journal=AMA Journal of Ethics |date=December 2020 |volume=22 |issue=12 |pages=E1055–1061 |doi=10.1001/amajethics.2020.1055 |pmid=33419507 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[cause of death]] is usually considered important, and an [[autopsy]] can be done to determine it. There are many causes, from accidents to diseases.

Many cultures and religions have a concept of an [[afterlife]]. There are also different customs for honoring the body, such as a [[funeral]], [[cremation]], or [[sky burial]].<ref name="Newcomb-2019" /> After a death, an [[obituary]] may be posted in a newspaper, and the "survived by" kin and friends usually go through the [[grieving process]].

==Diagnosis==
[[File:All causes world map-Deaths per million persons-WHO2012.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[World Health Organization]] estimated number of deaths per million persons in 2012{{Div col|small=yes|colwidth=10em}}
{{legend|#ffff20|1.054–4.598}}{{legend|#ffe820|4.599–5.516}}{{legend|#ffd820|5.517–6.289}}{{legend|#ffc020|6.290–6.835}}{{legend|#ffa020|6.836–7.916}}{{legend|#ff9a20|7.917–8.728}}{{legend|#f08015|8.729–9.404}}{{legend|#e06815|9.405–10.433}}{{legend|#d85010|10.434–12.233}}{{legend|#d02010|12.234–17.141}}{{div col end}}]]

===Definition<!-- Changed to "Definition", see 2023 GAN -->===
{{Main|Medical definition of death}}

There are many scientific approaches and various interpretations of the concept. Additionally, the advent of life-sustaining therapy and the numerous criteria for defining death from both a medical and legal standpoint have made it difficult to create a single unifying definition.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Veatch |first1=Robert M. |title=Defining Death: The Case for Choice |last2=Ross |first2=Lainie F. |date= 2016 |publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]] |isbn=978-1-62616-356-0 }}</ref>

==== Defining life to define death ====
One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. As a point in time, death seems to refer to the moment when life ends. Determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions is often not simultaneous across organ systems.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Crossing Over: How Science Is Redefining Life and Death |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/dying-death-brain-dead-body-consciousness-science/ |author=Henig, Robin Marantz |author-link=Robin Marantz Henig |magazine=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |date=April 2016 |access-date=23 October 2017 |archive-date=1 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101071129/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/dying-death-brain-dead-body-consciousness-science/ }}</ref> Such determination, therefore, requires drawing precise conceptual boundaries between life and death. This is difficult due to there being little consensus on how to define life.
[[File:StillLifeWithASkull.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Three objects on a slab |[[Vanitas]]: A flower, a skull, and an hourglass symbolize life, death, and time in this 17th-century painting by [[Philippe de Champaigne]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Muzdakis |first1=Madeleine |title=Vanitas: Paintings by the Dutch Old Masters Inspired by Life and Death |url=https://mymodernmet.com/vanitas-dutch-paintings/ |website=My Modern Met |language=en |date=12 February 2022}}</ref>]]

It is possible to define life in terms of [[consciousness]]. When consciousness ceases, an organism can be said to have died. One of the flaws in this approach is that there are many organisms that are alive but probably not conscious.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Animal Ethics |date=2023 |title=What beings are not conscious |url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/beings-conscious/#:~:text=Non%2Dsentient%20animals%20would%20then,and%20even%20engage%20in%20locomotion. |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=Animal Ethics |archive-date=8 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108091811/https://www.animal-ethics.org/beings-conscious/#:~:text=Non%2Dsentient%20animals%20would%20then,and%20even%20engage%20in%20locomotion. |url-status=live }}</ref> Another problem is in defining consciousness, which has many different definitions given by modern scientists, psychologists and philosophers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Antony |first1=M.V. |title=Is 'consciousness' ambiguous? |journal=Journal of Consciousness Studies |date=February 2001 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=19–44 |url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2001/00000008/00000002/1074 }}</ref> Additionally, many religious traditions, including [[Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic]] and [[Dharmic religions|Dharmic]] traditions, hold that death does not (or may not) entail the end of consciousness. In certain cultures, death is more of a process than a single event. It implies a slow shift from one spiritual state to another.<ref>{{cite book|year=1991 |last1=Metcalf |first1=Peter |last2=Huntington |first2=Richard |title=Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual |publisher=Cambridge Press |place=New York}}{{page needed|date=January 2014}}</ref>

Other definitions for death focus on the character of cessation of organismic functioning and human death, which refers to irreversible loss of personhood. More specifically, death occurs when a living entity experiences irreversible cessation of all functioning.<ref name="DeGrazia-2017" /> As it pertains to human life, death is an irreversible process where someone loses their existence as a person.<ref name="DeGrazia-2017">{{Citation|last=DeGrazia|first=David|title=The Definition of Death|date=2017|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/death-definition/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Spring 2017|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=2019-02-19|archive-date=18 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318071254/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2017/entries/death-definition/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Definition of death by heartbeat and breath ====
Historically, attempts to define the exact moment of a human's death have been subjective or imprecise. Death was defined as the cessation of [[heart]]beat (cardiac arrest) and [[breath]]ing,<ref name="US President's Commission -1981">{{Cite book |last=United States. President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fd3sFRTejuIC |title=Defining Death: A Report on the Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death · Part 34 |publisher=The Commission |year=1981 |page=63 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817193515/https://books.google.com/books?id=fd3sFRTejuIC |url-status=live }}</ref> but the development of [[cardiopulmonary resuscitation|CPR]] and prompt [[defibrillation]] have rendered that definition inadequate because breathing and heartbeat can sometimes be restarted.<ref name="US Department of the Army-1999">{{Cite book |last=United States Department of the Army |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLdfpIvnkZQC&q=CPR |title=Leadership Education and Training (LET 1) |publisher=United States Department of the Army |year=1999 |page=188 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817193517/https://books.google.com/books?id=YLdfpIvnkZQC&q=CPR |url-status=live }}</ref> This type of death where circulatory and respiratory arrest happens is known as the circulatory definition of death (CDD). Proponents of the CDD believe this definition is reasonable because a person with permanent loss of circulatory and respiratory function should be considered dead.<ref name="Bernat-2018">{{cite journal|last=Bernat|first=James L.|date=2018|title=Conceptual Issues in DCDD Donor Death Determination|journal=Hastings Center Report|volume=48|issue=S4|pages=S26–S28|doi=10.1002/hast.948|pmid=30584853 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Critics of this definition state that while cessation of these functions may be permanent, it does not mean the situation is irreversible because if CPR is applied fast enough, the person could be revived.<ref name="Bernat-2018"/> Thus, the arguments for and against the CDD boil down to defining the actual words "permanent" and "irreversible," which further complicates the challenge of defining death. Furthermore, events [[causality|causally]] linked to death in the past no longer kill in all circumstances; without a functioning heart or lungs, life can sometimes be sustained with a combination of [[life support]] devices, [[organ transplants]], and [[artificial pacemaker]]s.

==== Brain death ====
{{main|Brain death}}
Today, where a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death" to define a person as being dead;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Belkin |first=Gary Stuart |title=Death Before Dying: History, Medicine, and Brain Death. |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-989817-6 |page=220}}</ref> people are considered dead when the electrical activity in their brain ceases.<ref>{{Cite web |last=New York State Department of Health |date=2011 |title=Guidelines for Determining Brain Death |url=https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/hospital_administrator/letters/2011/brain_death_guidelines.htm |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=New York State |archive-date=24 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124021515/https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/hospital_administrator/letters/2011/brain_death_guidelines.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It is presumed that an end of electrical activity indicates the end of [[consciousness]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=National Health Service of the UK |date=September 8, 2022 |title=Overview: Brain death |url=https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/brain-death/#:~:text=Brain%20death%20(also%20known%20as,is%20legally%20confirmed%20as%20dead. |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=National Health Service |archive-date=12 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112175311/https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/brain-death/#:~:text=Brain%20death%20(also%20known%20as,is%20legally%20confirmed%20as%20dead. |url-status=live }}</ref> Suspension of consciousness must be permanent and not transient, as occurs during certain [[non-rapid eye movement sleep|sleep]] stages, and especially a coma.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nitkin |first=Karen |date=September 11, 2017 |title=The Challenges of Defining and Diagnosing Brain Death |url=https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/the-challenges-of-defining-and-diagnosing-brain-death#:~:text=Brain%20death%3A%20Irreversible%20cessation%20of,severe%20illness%20or%20brain%20injury. |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=Johns Hopkins Medicine |archive-date=10 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010230354/https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/the-challenges-of-defining-and-diagnosing-brain-death#:~:text=Brain%20death%3A%20Irreversible%20cessation%20of,severe%20illness%20or%20brain%20injury. |url-status=live }}</ref> In the case of sleep, [[Electroencephalography|electroencephalograms]] (EEGs) are used to tell the difference.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chernecky |first1=Cynthia C. |title=Laboratory Tests and Diagnostic Procedures |last2=Berger |first2=Barbara J. |year=2013 |publisher=Saunders |isbn=978-1-4557-0694-5 |edition=6th }}</ref>

The category of "brain death" is seen as problematic by some scholars. For instance, Dr. Franklin Miller, a senior faculty member at the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, notes: "By the late 1990s... the equation of brain death with death of the human being was increasingly challenged by scholars, based on evidence regarding the array of biological functioning displayed by patients correctly diagnosed as having this condition who were maintained on mechanical ventilation for substantial periods of time. These patients maintained the ability to sustain circulation and respiration, control temperature, excrete wastes, heal wounds, fight infections and, most dramatically, to gestate fetuses (in the case of pregnant "brain-dead" women)."<ref name=Miller>{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=F.G.|title=Death and organ donation: back to the future|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|date=October 2009 |volume=35 |issue=10 |pages=616–620 |doi=10.1136/jme.2009.030627 |pmid=19793942|doi-access=free|url=http://jme.bmj.com/content/35/10/616.full.pdf}}</ref>

[[File:French - Pendant with a Monk and Death - Walters 71461.jpg|thumb|alt=Ivory pendant of a Monk's face. The left half of the pendant appears skeletal, while the right half appears living|French 16th-/17th-century ivory pendant, Monk and Death, recalling mortality and the certainty of death ([[Walters Art Museum]])<ref>{{Cite web
 |url=https://art.thewalters.org/object/71.461/
 |title=Pendant with a Monk and Death
 |website=The Walters Art Museum
 |access-date=2025-06-08
 |publisher=Walters Art Museum
}}</ref>]]

While "brain death" is viewed as problematic by some scholars, there are proponents of it{{Who|date=November 2023}} that believe this definition of death is the most reasonable for distinguishing life from death. The reasoning behind the support for this definition is that brain death has a set of criteria that is reliable and reproducible. Also, the brain is crucial in determining our identity or who we are as human beings. The distinction should be made that "brain death" cannot be equated with one in a vegetative state or coma, in that the former situation describes a state that is beyond recovery.<ref name="Magnus-2014">{{cite journal |last1=Magnus |first1=David C. |last2=Wilfond |first2=Benjamin S. |last3=Caplan |first3=Arthur L. |title=Accepting Brain Death |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |date=6 March 2014 |volume=370 |issue=10 |pages=891–894 |doi=10.1056/NEJMp1400930 |pmid=24499177 }}</ref>

EEGs can detect spurious electrical impulses, while certain drugs, [[hypoglycemia]], [[hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]], or [[hypothermia]] can suppress or even stop brain activity temporarily;<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nicol |first1=A. U. |last2=Morton |first2=A. J. |date=June 11, 2020 |title=Characteristic patterns of EEG oscillations in sheep (Ovis aries) induced by ketamine may explain the psychotropic effects seen in humans. |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=9440 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-66023-8 |pmid=32528071 |pmc=7289807 |bibcode=2020NatSR..10.9440N }}</ref> because of this, hospitals have protocols for determining brain death involving EEGs at widely separated intervals under defined conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=New York Department of Health |date=December 5, 2011 |title=Guidelines for Determining Brain Death |url=https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/hospital_administrator/letters/2011/brain_death_guidelines.htm#:~:text=Electroencephalography%20(EEG)%3A%20Brain%20death,criteria%20listed%20in%20Appendix%202. |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=New York State |archive-date=24 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124021515/https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/hospital_administrator/letters/2011/brain_death_guidelines.htm#:~:text=Electroencephalography%20(EEG)%3A%20Brain%20death,criteria%20listed%20in%20Appendix%202. |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Neocortical brain death ====
One view is that the [[neocortex]] of the brain is necessary for consciousness, and that therefore only electrical activity of the neocortex should be considered when defining death. Eventually, the criterion for death may be the permanent and irreversible loss of [[cognition|cognitive]] function, as evidenced by the death of the [[cerebral cortex]]. All hope of recovering human thought and [[personality psychology|personality]] is then gone, given current and foreseeable medical technology.<ref name="Zaner-2011">{{Cite book |last=Zaner |first=Richard M. |title=Death: Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria |date=2011 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing Company|Springer]] |isbn=978-94-010-7720-0 |edition=1st |pages=77, 125}}</ref> Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated.

==== Total brain death ====
At present, in most places, the more conservative definition of death (irreversible cessation of electrical activity in the whole brain, as opposed to just in the neo-cortex) has been adopted. One example is the [[Uniform Determination Of Death Act]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws |url=https://lchc.ucsd.edu/cogn_150/Readings/death_act.pdf |title=Uniform Determination of Death Act |last2=American Bar Association |last3=American Medical Association |year=1981 |access-date=15 February 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326130414/https://lchc.ucsd.edu/cogn_150/Readings/death_act.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In the past, the adoption of this whole-brain definition was a conclusion of the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1980.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=Ariane |last2=Cahn-Fuller |first2=Katherine |last3=Caplan |first3=Arthur |title=Shouldn't Dead Be Dead?: The Search for a Uniform Definition of Death |journal=Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics |date=2017 |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=112–128 |doi=10.1177/1073110517703105 |pmid=28661278 }}</ref> They concluded that this approach to defining death sufficed in reaching a uniform definition nationwide. A multitude of reasons was presented to support this definition, including uniformity of standards in law for establishing death, consumption of a family's fiscal resources for artificial life support, and legal establishment for equating brain death with death to proceed with [[organ donation]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sarbey|first=Ben|date=2016-12-01|title=Definitions of death: brain death and what matters in a person|journal=Journal of Law and the Biosciences|volume=3|issue=3|pages=743–752|doi=10.1093/jlb/lsw054|pmid=28852554|pmc=5570697}}</ref>

==== Problems in medical practice ====
Aside from the issue of support of or dispute against brain death, there is another inherent problem in this categorical definition: the variability of its application in medical practice. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) established the criteria that became the medical standard for diagnosing neurologic death. At that time, three clinical features had to be satisfied to determine "irreversible cessation" of the total brain, including coma with clear etiology, cessation of breathing, and lack of brainstem reflexes.<ref name="Bernat-2013">{{Cite journal|last=Bernat|first=James L.|date=March 2013|title=Controversies in defining and determining death in critical care|journal=Nature Reviews Neurology|volume=9|issue=3|pages=164–173|doi=10.1038/nrneurol.2013.12|pmid=23419370 }}</ref> These criteria were updated again, most recently in 2010, but substantial discrepancies remain across hospitals and medical specialties.<ref name="Bernat-2013" />

==== Donations ====
The problem of defining death is especially imperative as it pertains to the [[dead donor rule]], which could be understood as one of the following interpretations of the rule: there must be an official declaration of death in a person before starting organ procurement, or that organ procurement cannot result in the death of the donor.<ref name="Bernat-2018" /> A great deal of controversy has surrounded the definition of death and the dead donor rule. Advocates of the rule believe that the rule is legitimate in protecting organ donors while also countering any moral or legal objection to organ procurement. Critics, on the other hand, believe that the rule does not uphold the best interests of the donors and that the rule does not effectively promote organ donation.<ref name="Bernat-2018" />

===Signs===
{{main|Stages of death}}

Signs of death or strong indications that a [[endotherm|warm-blooded animal]] is no longer alive are:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Australian Department of Health and Aged Care |date=June 2021 |title=The physical process of dying |url=https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/the-physical-process-of-dying |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=Health Direct |archive-date=1 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301223347/https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/the-physical-process-of-dying |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Respiratory arrest]] (no [[breathing]])
* [[Cardiac arrest]] (no [[heart rate|pulse]])
* [[Brain death]] (no neuronal activity)

The stages that follow after death are:<ref name="Dolinak-2005">{{Cite book |last1=Dolinak |first1=David |title=Forensic Pathology: Principles and Practice |last2=Matshes |first2=Evan |last3=Lew |first3=Emma O. |publisher=[[Elsevier Academic Press]] |isbn=978-0-08-047066-5 |date= 2005 |page=526}}</ref>
* {{lang|la|[[Pallor mortis]]}}, paleness which happens in 15–120 minutes after death
* {{lang|la|[[Livor mortis]]}}, a settling of the blood in the lower (dependent) portion of the body
* {{lang|la|[[Algor mortis]]}}, the reduction in body temperature following death. This is generally a steady decline until matching ambient temperature
* {{lang|la|[[Rigor mortis]]}}, the limbs of the corpse become stiff (Latin ''rigor'') and difficult to move or manipulate
* [[Putrefaction]], the beginning signs of decomposition
* [[Decomposition]], the reduction into simpler forms of matter, accompanied by a strong, unpleasant odor.
* [[Skeletonization]], the end of decomposition, where all soft tissues have decomposed, leaving only the skeleton.
* [[Fossil]]ization, the natural preservation of the skeletal remains formed over a very long period
[[File:Postmortem interval changes (stages of death).png|thumb|center|upright=3|Timeline of postmortem changes (stages of death)]]

===Legal===
{{See also|Legal death}}

The death of a person has legal consequences that may vary between jurisdictions. Most countries follow the whole-brain death criteria, where all functions of the brain must have completely ceased. However, in other jurisdictions, some follow the brainstem version of brain death.<ref name="Bernat-2013" /> Afterward, a [[death certificate]] is issued in most jurisdictions, either by a doctor or by an administrative office, upon presentation of a doctor's declaration of death.<ref>{{cite book |title=Medical certification of cause of death : instructions for physicians on use of international form of medical certificate of cause of death |date=1979 |publisher=World Health Organization |isbn=978-92-4-156062-7 |hdl=10665/40557 |hdl-access=free }}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref>

===Misdiagnosis===
{{See also|Premature burial}}
[[File:Wiertz burial.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|''The Premature Burial'' by [[Antoine Wiertz]], 1854]]

There are many anecdotal references to people being declared dead by physicians and then "coming back to life," sometimes days later in their coffin or when [[embalming]] procedures are about to begin. From the mid-18th century onwards, there was an upsurge in the public's fear of being mistakenly buried alive<ref>{{Harvnb|Bondeson|2001|p=77}}</ref> and much debate about the uncertainty of the signs of death. Various suggestions were made to test for signs of life before burial, ranging from pouring vinegar and pepper into the corpse's mouth to applying red hot pokers to the feet or into the [[rectum]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Bondeson|2001|pp=56,&nbsp;71.}}</ref> Writing in 1895, the physician J.C. Ouseley claimed that as many as 2,700 people were buried prematurely each year in England and Wales, although some estimates peg the figure to be closer to 800.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bondeson|2001|p=239}}</ref>

In cases of [[electric shock]], [[cardiopulmonary resuscitation]] (CPR) for an hour or longer can allow stunned [[nerve]]s to recover, allowing an apparently dead person to survive. People found unconscious under icy water may survive if their faces are kept continuously cold until they arrive at an [[emergency room]].<ref name=Limmer>{{cite book |title=Brady Emergency Care AHA |publisher=Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-13-159390-9 |author1=Limmer, Dan |author2=O'Keefe, Michael F. |author3=Bergeron, J. David |author4=Grant, Harvey |author5=Murray, Bob |author6=Dickinson, Ed |edition=10th Updated |date=21 December 2006 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/emergencycare0000unse }}</ref><!--original citation:Limmer, D. et al. (2006). Emergency care (AHA update, Ed. 10e). [[Prentice Hall]].--><!--guessed it was this:https://www.amazon.com/Brady-Emergency-Care-Updated-Edition/dp/0131593900/ --> This "diving response," in which [[metabolism|metabolic activity]] and oxygen requirements are minimal, is something humans share with [[cetacea]]ns called the [[mammalian diving reflex]].<ref name=Limmer />

As medical technologies advance, ideas about when death occurs may have to be reevaluated in light of the ability to restore a person to vitality after longer periods of apparent death (as happened when CPR and defibrillation showed that cessation of heartbeat is inadequate as a decisive indicator of death). The lack of electrical brain activity may not be enough to consider someone scientifically dead. Therefore, the concept of information-theoretic death has been suggested as a better means of defining when true death occurs, though the concept has few practical applications outside the field of [[cryonics]].<ref name="InfoDeath">{{cite web |last=Merkle |first=Ralph |title=Information-Theoretic Death |url=http://www.merkle.com/definitions/infodeath.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809190714/http://www.merkle.com/definitions/infodeath.html |archive-date=9 August 2016 |access-date=4 June 2016 |website=merkle.com |quote="A person is dead according to the information-theoretic criterion if the structures that encode memory and personality have been so disrupted that it is no longer possible in principle to recover them. If inference of the state of memory and personality are feasible in principle, and therefore restoration to an appropriate functional state is likewise feasible in principle, then the person is not dead."}}</ref>

== Causes ==
{{See also|List of causes of death by rate|Preventable causes of death}}

The leading cause of human death in [[developing countries]] is [[infectious disease]]. The leading causes in [[developed countries]] are [[atherosclerosis]] ([[heart disease]] and stroke), cancer, and other diseases related to [[obesity]] and [[aging]]. By an extremely wide margin, the largest unifying cause of death in the developed world is biological aging,<ref name="doi10.2202/1941-6008.1011" /> leading to various complications known as [[aging-associated diseases]]. These conditions cause loss of [[homeostasis]], leading to cardiac arrest, causing loss of [[oxygen]] and nutrient supply, causing irreversible deterioration of the brain and other [[tissue (biology)|tissues]]. Of the roughly 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two thirds die of age-related causes.<ref name="doi10.2202/1941-6008.1011" /> In industrialized nations, the proportion is much higher, approaching 90%.<ref name="doi10.2202/1941-6008.1011" /> With improved medical capability, [[dying]] has become [[respite care|a condition to be managed]].

In [[developing nations]], inferior sanitary conditions and lack of access to modern [[medical technology]] make death from [[infectious diseases]] more common than in [[developed countries]]. One such disease is [[tuberculosis]], a bacterial disease that killed 1.8 million people in 2015.<ref name="WHO2004data">{{cite web |publisher=[[World Health Organization|WHO]] |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/index.html |title=Tuberculosis Fact sheet N°104 – Global and regional incidence |date=March 2006 |access-date=6 October 2006 |archive-date=30 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232509/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs104/en/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2004, [[malaria]] caused about 2.7 million deaths annually.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris Thomas, Global Health/Health Infectious Diseases and Nutrition |url=http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/mch/ch/techareas/malaria_brief.html |title=USAID's Malaria Programs |publisher=[[USAID]] |date=2 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040126050719/http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/mch/ch/techareas/malaria_brief.html |archive-date=26 January 2004 |access-date=19 September 2016}}</ref> The [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] death toll in Africa may reach 90–100 million by 2025.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/04/aids |title=Aids could kill 90 million Africans, says UN |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=4 March 2005 |location=London |access-date=23 May 2010 |archive-date=29 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829025536/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/mar/04/aids |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300229.html |title=AIDS Toll May Reach 100 Million in Africa |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=4 June 2006 |first=Terry |last=Leonard |access-date=26 December 2013 |archive-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217223543/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/03/AR2006060300229.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[Jean Ziegler]], the United Nations Special Reporter on the Right to Food, 2000 – Mar 2008, mortality due to [[malnutrition]] accounted for 58% of the total mortality rate in 2006. Ziegler says worldwide, approximately 62 million people died from all causes and of those deaths, more than 36 million died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in [[micronutrient]]s.<ref>[[Jean Ziegler]], ''L'Empire de la honte'', Fayard, 2007 {{ISBN|978-2-253-12115-2}} p. 130.{{clarify|reason=The publisher and date given do not match ISBN listings. If Fayard was the publisher, the year should be 2005. Otherwise, the publisher must be LGF, Librairie générale française. Different versions can mean different pages (potentially even chapters) that we are referencing.|date=January 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Lewis Hine, Newsies smoking at Skeeter's Branch, St. Louis, 1910.jpg|thumb|American children smoking in 1910. [[Tobacco smoking]] caused an estimated 100 million deaths in the 20th century.<ref name=who />]]

Tobacco smoking killed 100&nbsp;million people worldwide in the 20th century and could kill 1&nbsp;billion people worldwide in the 21st century, a [[World Health Organization]] report warned.<ref name=who>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/mpower_report_full_2008.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308173338/http://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/mpower_report_full_2008.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2008 |title=WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008 |year=2008 |publisher=[[World Health Organization|WHO]] |access-date=26 December 2013}}</ref>

Many leading developed world causes of death can be postponed by [[diet (nutrition)|diet]] and [[physical fitness|physical activity]], but the accelerating incidence of disease with age still imposes limits on human [[longevity]]. The [[evolution of aging|evolutionary cause of aging]] is, at best, only beginning to be understood. It has been suggested that direct intervention in the aging process may now be the most effective intervention against major causes of death.<ref>{{cite journal |id={{Gale|A143579030}} |last1=Olshansky |first1=S. Jay |last2=Perry |first2=Daniel |last3=Miller |first3=Richard A. |last4=Butler |first4=Robert N. |title=In pursuit of the longevity dividend: what should we be doing to prepare for the unprecedented aging of humanity? |journal=The Scientist |date=March 2006 |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=28–37 }}</ref>

[[Hans Selye|Selye]] proposed a unified non-specific approach to many causes of death. He demonstrated that [[Stress (biology)|stress]] decreases the adaptability of an organism and proposed to describe adaptability as a special resource, ''adaptation energy''. The animal dies when this resource is exhausted.<ref name="SelyeAE2">{{cite journal |last1=Selye |first1=Hans |title=Experimental Evidence Supporting the Conception of 'Adaptation Energy' |journal=American Journal of Physiology. Legacy Content |date=31 August 1938 |volume=123 |issue=3 |pages=758–765 |doi=10.1152/ajplegacy.1938.123.3.758 }}</ref> Selye assumed that adaptability is a finite supply presented at birth. Later, Goldstone proposed the concept of production or income of adaptation energy which may be stored (up to a limit) as a capital reserve of adaptation.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Goldstone B |year=1952 |title=The general practitioner and the general adaptation syndrome |journal=South African Medical Journal |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=106–109 |pmid=14913266 |hdl=10520/AJA20785135_26742 }}</ref> In recent works, adaptation energy is considered an internal coordinate on the "dominant path" in the model of adaptation. It is demonstrated that oscillations of well-being appear when the reserve of adaptability is almost exhausted.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gorban |first1=Alexander N. |last2=Tyukina |first2=Tatiana A. |last3=Smirnova |first3=Elena V. |last4=Pokidysheva |first4=Lyudmila I. |title=Evolution of adaptation mechanisms: Adaptation energy, stress, and oscillating death |journal=Journal of Theoretical Biology |date=September 2016 |volume=405 |pages=127–139 |doi=10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.12.017 |pmid=26801872 |arxiv=1512.03949 |bibcode=2016JThBi.405..127G }}</ref>

[[File:Édouard Manet - Le Suicidé (ca. 1877).jpg|thumb|left|''Le Suicidé'' by [[Édouard Manet]]]]

In 2012, [[suicide]] overtook [[Traffic collision|car crashes]] as the leading cause of human injury deaths in the U.S., followed by poisoning, falls, and murder.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-suicide-americans-car.html |title=Suicide now kills more Americans than car crashes: study |newspaper=Medical Express |first=Steven |last=Reinberg |date=September 20, 2012 |access-date=15 October 2012 |archive-date=6 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006051702/http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-suicide-americans-car.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Accidents and disasters, from [[Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents|nuclear disasters]] to [[Structural integrity and failure|structural collapses]], also claim lives. One of the deadliest incidents of all time is the [[1975 Banqiao Dam failure|1975 Banqiao Dam Failure]], with varying estimates, up to 240,000 dead.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mufson |first=Steven |date=February 22, 1995 |title=RIGHTS GROUP WARNS CHINA ON DAM PROJECT |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/02/22/rights-group-warns-china-on-dam-project/313cd050-af56-4c2a-bf45-a00392e3d380/ |access-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306151637/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/02/22/rights-group-warns-china-on-dam-project/313cd050-af56-4c2a-bf45-a00392e3d380/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other incidents with high death tolls are the [[Wanggongchang Explosion|Wanggongchang explosion]] (when a gunpowder factory ended up with 20,000 deaths),<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Liang |first1=Guojian |last2=Deng |first2=Lang |date=April 29, 2013 |title=Solving a Mystery of 400 Years-An Explanation to the "explosion" in Downtown Beijing in the Year of 1626 |url=https://www.allbestessays.com/essay/Solving-a-Mystery-of-400-Years-An-Explanation-to/47238.html |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=AllBestEssays |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220133510/https://www.allbestessays.com/essay/Solving-a-Mystery-of-400-Years-An-Explanation-to/47238.html |url-status=live }}</ref> a collapse of a wall of [[Circus Maximus]] that killed 13,000 people,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Humphrey |first=John H. |title=Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing |date=1986 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-04921-5 |pages=80, 102, 126–129}}</ref> and the [[Chernobyl disaster]] that killed between 95 and 4,000 people.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sovacool |first1=Benjamin K. |title=The costs of failure: A preliminary assessment of major energy accidents, 1907–2007 |journal=Energy Policy |date=May 2008 |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=1802–1820 |doi=10.1016/j.enpol.2008.01.040 |bibcode=2008EnPol..36.1802S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sovacool |first1=Benjamin K. |title=A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia |journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia |date=August 2010 |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=369–400 |doi=10.1080/00472331003798350 |url=http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/20646 }}</ref>

[[Natural disaster]]s kill around 45,000 people annually, although this number can vary from thousands to millions on a per-decade basis. Some of the deadliest natural disasters are the [[1931 China floods]], which killed an estimated 4 million people, although estimates widely vary;<ref>{{cite web |date=August 30, 2010 |title=The World's Worst Natural Disasters: Calamities of the 20th and 21st centuries |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/the-world-s-worst-natural-disasters-1.743208 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |archive-date=19 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119154212/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/the-world-s-worst-natural-disasters-1.743208 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[1887 Yellow River flood]], which killed an estimated 2 million people in China;<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Means |first1=Tiffany |last2=Pappas |first2=Stephanie |date=March 3, 2022 |title=10 of the deadliest natural disasters in history |url=https://www.livescience.com/33316-top-10-deadliest-natural-disasters.html |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=LiveScience |archive-date=2 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702232018/https://www.livescience.com/33316-top-10-deadliest-natural-disasters.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the [[1970 Bhola cyclone]], which killed as many as 500,000 people in [[East Pakistan]] (present-day [[Bangladesh]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 13, 2017 |title="The 16 deadliest storms of the last century" |url=https://www.businessinsider.in/science/the-16-deadliest-storms-of-the-last-century/slidelist/60486966.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107131218/https://www.businessinsider.in/science/the-16-deadliest-storms-of-the-last-century/slidelist/60486966.cms |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |access-date=February 17, 2023 |website=Business Insider India}}</ref> If naturally occurring [[famine]]s are considered natural disasters, the [[Chinese famine of 1906–1907]], which killed 15–20 million people, can be considered the deadliest natural disaster in recorded history.

In animals, [[predation]] can be a common cause of death. Livestock have a 6% death rate from predation. However, younger animals are more susceptible to predation. For example, 50% of young foxes die to [[Bird of prey|birds]], [[bobcat]]s, [[coyote]]s, and [[Cannibalism|other foxes]] as well. Young bear cubs in the [[Yellowstone National Park]] only have a 40% chance to survive to adulthood from other bears and predators.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dohner |first=Janet Vorwald |title=The encyclopedia of animal predators: learn about each predator's traits and behaviors: identify the tracks and signs of more than 50 predators: protect your livestock, poultry, and pets |date=2017 |isbn=978-1-61212-705-7 |location=North Adams, Massachusetts |publisher=Storey Publishing |oclc=970604110}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref>

=== Autopsy ===
{{Main|Autopsy}}
[[File:Rembrandt - The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp.jpg|thumb|alt=A painting of an autopsy, by Rembrandt, entitled "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp"|''[[The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp]]'' by [[Rembrandt]] <!-- I'm pretty sure this depicts an anatomy lesson (per the title) and not an autopsy -->]]

An autopsy, also known as a ''postmortem examination'' or an ''obduction'', is a [[medical procedure]] that consists of a thorough [[Medical examination|examination]] of a human [[dead body|corpse]] to determine the cause and manner of a person's death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. It is usually performed by a specialized [[physician|medical doctor]] called a [[pathologist]].<ref name="Johns Hopkins Medical-2019">{{Cite web |last=Johns Hopkins Medical |title=Autopsy |url=https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/autopsy |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=Johns Hopkins Medical |date=19 November 2019 |archive-date=26 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626040047/https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/autopsy |url-status=live }}</ref>

Autopsies are either performed for legal or medical purposes.<ref name="Johns Hopkins Medical-2019" /> A forensic autopsy is carried out when the cause of death may be a criminal matter, while a clinical or academic autopsy is performed to find the medical cause of death and is used in cases of unknown or uncertain death, or for research purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maryland Department of Health |title=Forensic Autopsy |url=https://health.maryland.gov/ocme/Pages/Forensic-Autopsy.aspx#:~:text=A%20forensic%20autopsy%20is%20a,or%20contributed%20to%20the%20death. |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=Maryland Department of Health |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004011340/https://health.maryland.gov/ocme/Pages/Forensic-Autopsy.aspx#:~:text=A%20forensic%20autopsy%20is%20a,or%20contributed%20to%20the%20death. |url-status=live }}</ref> Autopsies can be further classified into cases where external examination suffices, and those where the body is dissected and an internal examination is conducted.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Madea |first1=Buckhard |last2=Rothschild |first2=Markus |date=June 1, 2010 |title=The Post Mortem External Examination |url=https://www.aerzteblatt.de/int/archive/article/77978 |journal=Deutsches Ärzteblatt International |language=de |volume=103 |issue=33 |pages=575–586; quiz 587–588 |doi=10.3238/arztebl.2010.0575 |pmid=20830284 |pmc=2936051 |access-date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306150726/https://www.aerzteblatt.de/int/archive/article/77978 |url-status=live }}</ref> Permission from [[next of kin]] may be required for internal autopsy in some cases.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Duke University School of Medicine |title=Autopsy Pathology |url=https://pathology.duke.edu/divisions/anatomic-pathology/autopsy-pathology#:~:text=The%20immediate%20family%20should%20be,brother%20or%20sister%20or%20guardian. |access-date=February 15, 2023 |website=Duke Department of Pathology |archive-date=28 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628224102/https://pathology.duke.edu/divisions/anatomic-pathology/autopsy-pathology#:~:text=The%20immediate%20family%20should%20be,brother%20or%20sister%20or%20guardian. |url-status=live }}</ref> Once an internal autopsy is complete the body is generally reconstituted by sewing it back together.<ref name="Dolinak-2005" />

A necropsy, which is not always a medical procedure, was a term previously used to describe an unregulated postmortem examination. In modern times, this term is more commonly associated with the corpses of animals.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Fadden |first1=Melissa |last2=Peaslee |first2=Jennifer |date=March 19, 2019 |title=What's a Necropsy? The Science Behind this Valuable Diagnostic Tool. |url=https://cwhl.vet.cornell.edu/article/whats-necropsy-science-behind-valuable-diagnostic-tool |access-date=February 15, 2023 |publisher=Cornell University |archive-date=4 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604070211/https://cwhl.vet.cornell.edu/article/whats-necropsy-science-behind-valuable-diagnostic-tool |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Death before birth ==
Death before birth can happen in several ways: [[stillbirth]], when the [[fetus]] dies before or during the delivery process; [[miscarriage]], when the [[embryo]] dies before independent survival; and [[abortion]], the artificial termination of the pregnancy. Stillbirth and miscarriage can happen for various reasons, while abortion is carried out purposely.

=== Stillbirth ===
{{Main|Stillbirth}}
Stillbirth can happen right before or after the delivery of a fetus. It can result from [[Birth defect|defects]] of the fetus or [[Risk factor (epidemiology)|risk factor]]s present in the mother. Reductions of these factors, [[caesarean section]]s when risks are present, and early detection of birth defects have lowered the rate of stillbirth. However, 1% of births in the United States end in a stillbirth.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldenberg |first1=Rl |last2=Kirby |first2=R |last3=Culhane |first3=Jf |title=Stillbirth: a review |journal=The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine |date=August 2004 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=79–94 |doi=10.1080/jmf.16.2.79.94 }}</ref>

=== Miscarriage ===
{{Main|Miscarriage}}
A miscarriage is defined by the [[World Health Organization]] as, "The expulsion or extraction from its mother of an embryo or fetus weighing 500g or less." Miscarriage is one of the most frequent problems in pregnancy, and is reported in around 12–15% of all [[Pregnancy|clinical pregnancies]]; however, by including pregnancy losses during [[menstruation]], it could be up to 17–22% of all pregnancies. There are many risk-factors involved in miscarriage; consumption of [[caffeine]], [[tobacco]], [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]], drugs, having a previous miscarriage, and the use of abortion can increase the chances of having a miscarriage.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=García-Enguídanos |first1=A |last2=Calle |first2=M.E |last3=Valero |first3=J |last4=Luna |first4=S |last5=Domínguez-Rojas |first5=V |date=May 10, 2002 |title=Risk factors in miscarriage: a review |journal=European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology |language=en |volume=102 |issue=2 |pages=111–119 |doi=10.1016/S0301-2115(01)00613-3 |pmid=11950476}}</ref>

=== Abortion ===
{{Main|Abortion}}
An abortion may be performed for many reasons, such as [[pregnancy from rape]], financial constraints of having a child, [[teenage pregnancy]], and the lack of support from a [[significant other]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lawrence |first1=B. |last2=Finer |first2=Lori F. |last3=Frohwirth |first3=Lindsay |last4=Dauphinee |first4=A. |last5=Singh |first5=Susheela |last6=Moore |first6=Ann M. |title=Reasons U.S. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives |journal=Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health |date=September 2005 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=110–118 |doi=10.1111/j.1931-2393.2005.tb00045.x |pmid=16150658 }}</ref> There are two forms of abortion: a [[medical abortion]] and an in-clinic abortion or sometimes referred to as a surgical abortion. A medical abortion involves taking a pill that will terminate the pregnancy no more than 11 weeks past the last [[Menstrual cycle|period]], and an in-clinic abortion involves a medical procedure using suction to empty the uterus; this is possible after 12 weeks, but it may be more difficult to find an operating doctor who will go through with the procedure.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Attia |date=November 21, 2019 |title=What are the different types of abortion? |url=https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/ask-experts/what-are-the-different-types-of-abortion |access-date=February 21, 2023 |website=Planned Parenthood |language=en |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503201622/https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/ask-experts/what-are-the-different-types-of-abortion |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Senescence ==
{{main|Senescence}}
[[File:Kameldornbaum Sossusvlei.jpg|thumb|Dead [[Vachellia erioloba|camel thorn tree]] within [[Sossusvlei]]]]

Senescence refers to a scenario when a living being can survive all calamities but eventually dies due to causes relating to old age. Conversely, premature death can refer to a death that occurs before old age arrives, for example, human death before a person reaches the age of 75.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The top five causes of premature death |url=https://familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk/kb5/havering/directory/advice.page?id=6ShWTMD1aSU |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk |archive-date=21 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921235905/https://familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk/kb5/havering/directory/advice.page?id=6ShWTMD1aSU |url-status=live }}</ref> Animal and plant cells normally reproduce and function during the whole period of natural existence, but the aging process derives from the deterioration of cellular activity and the ruination of regular functioning. The aptitude of cells for gradual deterioration and mortality means that cells are naturally sentenced to stable and long-term loss of living capacities, even despite continuing metabolic reactions and viability. In the United Kingdom, for example, nine out of ten of all the deaths that occur daily relates to senescence, while around the world, it accounts for two-thirds of 150,000 deaths that take place daily.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hayflick |first1=Loeonard |url=https://search.issuelab.org/resource/has-anyone-ever-died-of-old-age.html |title=Has Anyone Ever Died of Old Age? |last2=Moody |first2=Harry R. |publisher=International Longevity Center–USA |date=2003 |access-date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306150733/https://search.issuelab.org/resource/has-anyone-ever-died-of-old-age.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Almost all animals who survive external hazards to their biological functioning eventually die from [[Senescence|biological aging]], known in life sciences as "senescence." Some organisms experience [[negligible senescence]], even exhibiting [[biological immortality]]. These include the jellyfish ''[[Turritopsis dohrnii]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/turritopsis-nutricula-immortal-jellyfish.html |title=Turritopsis nutricula (Immortal jellyfish) |publisher=Jellyfishfacts.net |access-date=18 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013163459/http://www.jellyfishfacts.net/turritopsis-nutricula-immortal-jellyfish.html |archive-date=13 October 2016 }}</ref> the [[Hydra (genus)|hydra]], and the [[planarian]]. Unnatural causes of death include [[suicide]] and [[predation]]. Of all causes, roughly 150,000 people die around the world each day.<ref name="doi10.2202/1941-6008.1011">{{cite journal |last1=de Grey |first1=Aubrey D.N.J |author-link1=Aubrey de Grey |title=Life Span Extension Research and Public Debate: Societal Considerations |journal=Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology |date=21 January 2007 |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.2202/1941-6008.1011 |quote=roughly 150,000 deaths that occur each day across the globe}}</ref> Of these, two-thirds die directly or indirectly due to senescence, but in industrialized countries – such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany – the rate approaches 90% (i.e., nearly nine out of ten of all deaths are related to senescence).<ref name="doi10.2202/1941-6008.1011" />

[[Physiological]] death is now seen as a process, more than an event: conditions once considered indicative of death are now reversible.<ref>{{cite web|last=Crippen |first=David |website=Scientific American Surgery, Critical Care, April 2005 |url=http://www.sciamsurgery.com/sciamsurgery/institutional/payPerAdd.action?chapterId=part08_ch10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624132446/http://www.acssurgery.com/abstracts/acs/acs0812.htm |archive-date=24 June 2006 |title=Brain Failure and Brain Death |access-date=9 January 2007}}</ref> Where in the process, a dividing line is drawn between life and death depends on factors beyond the presence or absence of [[vital signs]]. In general, [[clinical death]] is neither necessary nor sufficient for a determination of [[legal death]]. A patient with working [[human heart|heart]] and [[human lung|lungs]] determined to be [[brain death|brain dead]] can be pronounced legally dead without clinical death occurring.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burkle |first1=Christopher M. |last2=Sharp |first2=Richard R. |last3=Wijdicks |first3=Eelco F. |date=October 14, 2014 |title=Why brain death is considered death and why there should be no confusion |journal=Neurology |volume=83 |issue=16 |pages=1464–1469 |doi=10.1212/WNL.0000000000000883 |pmid=25217058 |pmc=4206160 }}</ref>

== Life extension ==
{{Main|Life extension}}
Life extension refers to an increase in [[maximum life span|maximum]] or [[life expectancy|average lifespan]], especially in humans, by slowing or reversing [[senescence|aging processes]] through [[anti-aging]] measures. Aging is the most common cause of death worldwide. Aging is seen as inevitable, so according to [[Aubrey de Grey]] little is spent on research into anti-aging therapies, a phenomenon known as [[pro-aging trance]].<ref name="doi10.2202/1941-6008.1011" />

The average lifespan is determined by vulnerability to [[accident]]s and age or lifestyle-related afflictions such as cancer or [[cardiovascular disease]]. Extension of lifespan can be achieved by good [[diet (nutrition)|diet]], exercise, and avoidance of hazards such as [[tobacco smoking|smoking]]. Maximum lifespan is determined by the rate of aging for a species inherent in its [[gene]]s. A recognized method of extending maximum lifespan is [[calorie restriction]].<ref name="Fontana-2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Fontana |first1=Luigi |last2=Partridge |first2=Linda |last3=Longo |first3=Valter L. |date=April 16, 2010 |title=Extending Healthy Life Span—From Yeast to Humans |journal=Science |volume=328 |issue=5976 |pages=321–326 |doi=10.1126/science.1172539 |pmid=20395504 |pmc=3607354 |bibcode=2010Sci...328..321F }}</ref> Theoretically, the extension of the maximum lifespan can be achieved by reducing the rate of aging damage, by [[tissue engineering|periodic replacement of damaged tissues]], [[nanobiotechnology|molecular repair]], or [[rejuvenation (aging)|rejuvenation]] of deteriorated cells and tissues.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blagosklonny |first=Mikhail V. |date=December 1, 2021 |title=No limit to maximal lifespan in humans: how to beat a 122-year-old record |journal=Oncoscience |volume=2021 |issue=8 |pages=110–119 |doi=10.18632/oncoscience.547 |pmid=34869788 |pmc=8636159 }}</ref>

A United States poll found religious and irreligious people, as well as men and women and people of different economic classes, have similar rates of support for life extension, while Africans and Hispanics have higher rates of support than white people. 38% said they would desire to have their aging process cured.<ref>{{cite web |date=6 August 2013 |title=Living to 120 and Beyond: Americans' Views on Aging, Medical Advances and Radical Life Extension |url=http://www.pewforum.org/2013/08/06/living-to-120-and-beyond-americans-views-on-aging-medical-advances-and-radical-life-extension/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918232422/http://www.pewforum.org/2013/08/06/living-to-120-and-beyond-americans-views-on-aging-medical-advances-and-radical-life-extension/ |archive-date=18 September 2016 |access-date=19 September 2016 |website=Pew Research Center |publisher=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}</ref>

Researchers of life extension can be known as "biomedical [[gerontologist]]s." They try to understand aging, and develop treatments to reverse aging processes, or at least slow them for the improvement of health and maintenance of youthfulness.<ref name="Stambler-2017">{{Cite journal |last=Stambler |first=Ilia |date=October 1, 2017 |title=Recognizing Degenerative Aging as a Treatable Medical Condition: Methodology and Policy |journal=Aging and Disease |volume=8 |issue=5 |pages=583–589 |doi=10.14336/AD.2017.0130 |pmid=28966803 |pmc=5614323 }}</ref> Those who use life extension findings and apply them to themselves are called "life extensionists" or "longevists." The primary life extension strategy currently is to apply anti-aging methods to attempt to live long enough to benefit from a cure for aging.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moshakis |first=Alex |date=June 23, 2019 |title=How to live forever: meet the extreme life-extensionists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/jun/23/how-to-live-forever-meet-the-extreme-life-extensionists-immortal-science |access-date=February 16, 2023 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=23 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190623103052/https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/jun/23/how-to-live-forever-meet-the-extreme-life-extensionists-immortal-science |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Cryonics ===
{{Main||Cryonics}}
[[File:Cryo surgery.jpg|thumb|Technicians prepare a body for cryopreservation in 1985.]]

Cryonics (from [[Greek language|Greek]] κρύος 'kryos-' meaning 'icy cold') is the [[cryopreservation|low-temperature preservation]] of animals, including humans, who cannot be sustained by contemporary medicine, with the hope that healing and [[wikt:resuscitate|resuscitation]] may be possible in the future.<ref>{{cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=13 July 2002 |title=Cold facts about cryonics |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/jul/14/medicalscience.science |url-status=live |access-date=1 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708232125/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/jul/14/medicalscience.science |archive-date=8 July 2017 |quote=Cryonics, which began in the Fifties, is the freezing – usually in liquid nitrogen – of human beings who have been legally declared dead. The aim of this process is to keep such individuals in a state of refrigerated limbo so that it may become possible in the future to resuscitate them, cure them of the condition that killed them, and then restore them to functioning life in an era when medical science has triumphed over the activities of the Banana Reaper}}</ref><ref name="alcor What is Cryonics">{{cite web |title=What is Cryonics? |url=http://alcor.org/AboutCryonics/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002857/http://alcor.org/AboutCryonics/index.html |archive-date=3 December 2013 |access-date=2 December 2013 |website=[[Alcor Foundation]] |quote="Cryonics is an effort to save lives by using temperatures so cold that a person beyond help by today's medicine might be preserved for decades or centuries until a future medical technology can restore that person to full health."}}</ref>

[[Cryopreservation]] of people and other large animals is not reversible with current technology. The stated rationale for cryonics is that people who are considered dead by current legal or medical definitions, may not necessarily be dead according to the more stringent 'information-theoretic' definition of death.<ref name="InfoDeath" /><ref name="Whetstine L et al. 2005 538–542">{{cite journal |vauthors=Whetstine L, Streat S, Darwin M, Crippen D |year=2005 |title=Pro/con ethics debate: When is dead really dead? |journal=Critical Care |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=538–42 |doi=10.1186/cc3894 |pmc=1414041 |pmid=16356234 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Some scientific literature is claimed to support the feasibility of cryonics.<ref name="pmid18321197">{{cite journal |first=Ben |last=Best |author-link=Ben Best |year=2008 |title=Scientific justification of cryonics practice |journal=[[Rejuvenation Research]] |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=493–503 |doi=10.1089/rej.2008.0661 |pmc=4733321 |pmid=18321197}}</ref> Medical science and [[Cryobiology|cryobiologists]] generally regard cryonics with skepticism.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lovgren |first=Stefan |date=18 March 2005 |title=Corpses Frozen for Future Rebirth by Arizona Company |newspaper=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]] |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0318_050318_cryonics.html |access-date=15 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714141729/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0318_050318_cryonics.html |archive-date=14 July 2014 |quote=Many cryobiologists, however, scoff at the idea...}}</ref>

== Location ==
[[File:Hugo Sundström - Kallio with Mannerheim.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Kyösti Kallio]] (middle), the fourth [[President of the Republic of Finland]], had a fatal heart attack a few seconds after this photograph was taken by Hugo Sundström on 19 December 1940, at [[Helsinki railway station]] in Helsinki, Finland.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Paasonen |first1=Aladár |title=Marsalkan tiedustelupäällikkönä ja hallituksen asiamiehenä |trans-title=Marshall's chief of intelligence and Government's official |language=fi |date=1974 |publisher=Weilin & Göös |isbn=978-951-35-1173-9 }}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=629 | title= Kallio, Kyösti (1873–1940) President of Finland | first= Kari | last= Hokkanen | publisher= Biografiakeskus, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura | access-date= 2013-01-10 | archive-date= 22 February 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140222215305/http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=629 | url-status= live }}</ref>]]

Around 1930, most people in Western countries died in their own homes, surrounded by family, and comforted by clergy, neighbors, and doctors making [[house call]]s.<ref name="isbn0-8018-1762-5">{{cite book|last=Ariès |first=Philippe |author-link=Philippe Ariès |title=Western attitudes toward death: from the Middle Ages to the present |url=https://archive.org/details/westernattitudes00phil |url-access=registration |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |year=1974 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/westernattitudes00phil/page/87 87–89] |isbn=978-0-8018-1762-5}}</ref> By the mid-20th century, half of all Americans died in a hospital.<ref name="isbn0-679-41461-4">{{cite book |last=Nuland |first=Sherwin B. |author-link=Sherwin B. Nuland |title=How we die: Reflections on life's final chapter |publisher=A.A. Knopf |location=New York |year=1994 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/howwediereflecti00nula/page/254 254–255] |isbn=978-0-679-41461-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/howwediereflecti00nula/page/254 }}</ref> By the start of the 21st century, only about 20 to 25% of people in developed countries died outside of a medical institution.<ref name="isbn0-679-41461-4" /><ref name="pmid16299059">{{cite journal|last1=Ahmad |first1=S. |last2=O'Mahony |first2=M.S. |title=Where older people die: a retrospective population-based study |journal=QJM |volume=98 |issue=12 |pages=865–870 |date=December 2005 |pmid=16299059 |doi=10.1093/qjmed/hci138|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="pmid11535743">{{cite journal|vauthors=Cassel CK, Demel B |title=Remembering death: public policy in the USA |journal=J R Soc Med |volume=94 |issue=9 |pages=433–436 |date=September 2001 |pmid=11535743 |pmc=1282180|doi=10.1177/014107680109400905 }}</ref> The shift from dying at home towards dying in a professional medical environment has been termed the "Invisible Death."<ref name="isbn0-679-41461-4" /> This shift occurred gradually over the years until most deaths now occur outside the home.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Invisible Death|last1=Ariès|first1=P|pages=105–115|journal=The Wilson Quarterly|volume=5|issue=1|jstor=40256048|year=1981|pmid=11624731}}</ref>

== Psychology ==
{{see also|Death anxiety}}

Death studies is a field within [[psychology]].<ref name="oxforddeathpsych">{{cite encyclopedia |doi=10.1093/obo/9780199828340-0144 |title=Death and Dying |date=2014 |last1=Solomon |first1=Sheldon |last2=Piven |first2=JS |encyclopedia=Oxford Bibliographies Online }}</ref> To varying degrees people inherently fear death, both the process and the eventuality; it is hard wired and part of the 'survival instinct' of all animals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jong |first1=Jonathan |last2=Ross |first2=Robert |last3=Philip |first3=Tristan |last4=Chang |first4=Si-Hua |last5=Simons |first5=Naomi |last6=Halberstadt |first6=Jamin |title=The religious correlates of death anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis |journal=Religion, Brain & Behavior |date=2 January 2018 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=4–20 |doi=10.1080/2153599X.2016.1238844 |url=https://pure.coventry.ac.uk/ws/files/7883604/The_religious_correlates_of_death_anxiety.pdf }} See also {{cite press release |title=Study into who is least afraid of death |url=https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-03-24-study-who-least-afraid-death |publisher=University of Oxford |date=24 March 2017 }}</ref> Discussing, thinking about, or planning for their deaths causes them discomfort. This fear may cause them to put off financial planning, preparing a [[will and testament]], or requesting help from a [[hospice]] organization.

[[Mortality salience]] is the awareness that death is inevitable. However, [[self-esteem]] and culture are ways to reduce the [[anxiety]] this effect can cause.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harmon-Jones |first1=Eddie |last2=Simon |first2=Linda |last3=Greenberg |first3=Jeff |last4=Pyszczynski |first4=Tom |last5=Solomon |first5=S |last6=McGregor |first6=H |title=Terror management theory and self-esteem: Evidence that increased self-esteem reduced mortality salience effects. |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |date=1997 |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=24–36 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.72.1.24 |pmid=9008372 }}</ref> The awareness of someone's own death can cause a deepened bond in their [[In-group and out-group|in-group]] as a [[Defence mechanism|defense mechanism]]. This can also cause the person to become very judging. In a study, two groups were formed; one group was asked to reflect upon their mortality, the other was not, afterwards, the groups were told to set a [[Bail bond|bond]] for a [[prostitute]]. The group that did not reflect on death had an average of $50, the group who was reminded about their death had an average of $455.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pyszczynski |first=Thomas A. |title=In the wake of 9/11: the psychology of terror |date=2003 |publisher=American Psychological Association |others=Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon |isbn=1-55798-954-0 |location=Washington, DC |oclc=49719188}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref>

Different people have different responses to the idea of their deaths. Philosopher [[Galen Strawson]] writes that the death that many people wish for is an instant, painless, unexperienced annihilation.<ref name="Strawson-2018">{{Cite book |last=Strawson |first=Galen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_9MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |title=Things that Bother Me: Death, Freedom, the Self, Etc |date=2018 |publisher=New York Review of Books |isbn=978-1-68137-220-4 |pages=72–73 |language=en |access-date=2 July 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730003828/https://books.google.com/books?id=c_9MDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |url-status=live}}</ref> In this unlikely scenario, the person dies without realizing it and without being able to fear it. One moment the person is walking, eating, or sleeping, and the next moment, the person is dead. Strawson reasons that this type of death would not take anything away from the person, as he believes a person cannot have a legitimate claim to ownership in the future.<ref name="Strawson-2018" /><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198777885.003.0006 |chapter='We live beyond…any tale that we happen to enact' |title=The Subject of Experience |date=2017 |last1=Strawson |first1=Galen |pages=106–122 |isbn=978-0-19-877788-5 }}</ref>

== Society and culture ==
{{Main|Death and culture|Human skull symbolism}}
[[File:Hertig Karl skymfande Klaus Flemings lik, målning av Albert Edelfelt från 1878.jpg|thumb|alt=A duke insulting the corpse of Klaus Fleming|The regent Duke Charles (later King [[Charles IX of Sweden]]) insulting the corpse of [[Klaus Fleming]]. [[Albert Edelfelt]], 1878]]
[[File:Placid death.JPG|thumb|alt=A naturally mummified body (from Guanajuato)|Dead bodies can be [[mummified]] either naturally, as this one [[Mummies of Guanajuato|from Guanajuato]], or by intention, as [[Ancient Egyptian burial customs|those in ancient Egypt]].]]

In society, the nature of death and humanity's [[Mortality salience|awareness of its mortality]] has, for millennia, been a concern of the world's [[religious traditions]] and [[philosophy|philosophical inquiry]]. Including belief in [[resurrection]] or an [[afterlife]] (associated with [[Abrahamic religions]]), [[reincarnation]] or rebirth (associated with [[Dharmic religions]]), or that consciousness permanently ceases to exist, known as [[eternal oblivion]] (associated with [[secular humanism]]).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuKB8MPMdG4C&pg=PA18|title=Handbook to the Afterlife|last1=Heath|first1=Pamela Rae|last2=Klimo|first2=Jon|publisher=North Atlantic Books|date=2010|page=18|isbn=978-1-55643-869-1|access-date=12 April 2012|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306223706/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fuKB8MPMdG4C&lpg=PA18&pg=PA18|url-status=live}}</ref>

Commemoration ceremonies after death may include various [[mourning]], funeral practices, and ceremonies of honoring the deceased.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seremetakis |first=C. Nadia |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/L/bo3621456.html |title=The Last Word: Women, Death, and Divination in Inner Mani |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago, IL |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Victoria |title=Celebrating Life Customs Around the World: From Baby Showers to Funerals [3 Volumes] |date= 2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-3659-6}}</ref> The physical remains of a person, commonly known as a ''corpse'' or ''body'', are usually [[burial|interred]] whole or [[cremated]], though among the world's cultures, there are a variety of other methods of [[Disposal of human corpses|mortuary disposal]].<ref name="Newcomb-2019">{{Cite web |last=Newcomb |first=Tim |date=October 17, 2019 |title=7 Unique Burial Rituals Across the World |url=https://www.britannica.com/list/7-unique-burial-rituals-across-the-world |access-date=February 16, 2023 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |archive-date=1 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401042544/https://www.britannica.com/list/7-unique-burial-rituals-across-the-world |url-status=live }}</ref> In the English language, blessings directed towards a dead person include ''[[rest in peace]]'' (originally the [[Latin]], ''requiescat in pace'') or its [[initialism]] RIP.

Death is the center of many traditions and organizations; customs relating to death are a feature of every culture around the world. Much of this revolves around the care of the dead, as well as the [[afterlife]] and the disposal of bodies upon the onset of death. The [[disposal of human corpses]] does, in general, begin with the [[last offices]] before significant time has passed, and ritualistic ceremonies often occur, most commonly interment or cremation. This is not a unified practice; in [[Tibet]], for instance, the body is given a [[sky burial]] and left on a mountain top. Proper preparation for death and techniques and ceremonies for producing the ability to transfer one's spiritual attainments into another body (reincarnation) are subjects of detailed study in Tibet.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mullin|1998|p=}}{{page needed|date=January 2014}}</ref> [[Mummification]] or [[embalming]] is also prevalent in some cultures to retard the rate of [[Decomposition|decay]].<ref name="Brenner-2014">{{Cite journal |last=Brenner |first=Erich |date=January 18, 2014 |title=Human body preservation – old and new techniques |journal=Journal of Anatomy |volume=224 |issue=3 |pages=316–344 |doi=10.1111/joa.12160 |pmid=24438435 |pmc=3931544 }}</ref> The rise of [[secularism]] resulted in material mementos of death declining.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lutz |first=Deborah |date=2011 |title=The Dead Still Among Us: Victorian Secular Relics, Hair Jewelry, and Death Culture |journal=Victorian Literature and Culture |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=127–142 |doi=10.1017/S1060150310000306 |jstor=41307854 }}</ref>

Some parts of death in culture are legally based, having laws for when death occurs, such as the receiving of a death certificate, the settlement of the deceased [[estate (law)|estate]], and the issues of [[inheritance]] and, in some countries, [[inheritance tax]]ation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dimond |first=Bridgit |title=Legal Aspects of Death |publisher=Quay Books |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-85642-333-5 |edition=6th}}</ref>

[[Capital punishment]] is also a culturally divisive aspect of death. In most jurisdictions where capital punishment is carried out today, the death penalty is reserved for premeditated murder, espionage, [[treason]], or as part of [[military justice]]. In some countries, sexual crimes, such as [[adultery]] and [[sodomy]], carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes, such as [[apostasy]], the formal renunciation of one's religion. In many [[Use of capital punishment by nation|retentionist]] countries, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, [[Trafficking in human beings|human trafficking]] and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world, [[courts-martial]] have imposed death sentences for offenses such as [[cowardice]], [[desertion]], [[insubordination]], and [[mutiny]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shotatdawn.org.uk/|title=Shot at Dawn, campaign for pardons for British and Commonwealth soldiers executed in World War I|publisher=Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004030535/http://www.shotatdawn.org.uk/|archive-date=4 October 2006|access-date=20 July 2006}}</ref> Mutiny is punishable by death in the United States.<ref name=":0" />

Death in warfare and [[suicide attack]]s also have cultural links, and the ideas of ''[[dulce et decorum est pro patria mori]],'' which translates to "It is sweet and proper to die for one's country", is a concept that dates to antiquity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=United States Department of the Army |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk8sAAAAYAAJ |title=Military Judges' Benchbook: Part 1 |publisher=United States Department of the Army |year=1982 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=17 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230817194026/https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk8sAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, grieving relatives of dead soldiers and [[death notification]] are embedded in many cultures.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hassankhani |first1=Hadi |last2=Haririan |first2=Hamidreza |last3=Porter |first3=Joanne E. |last4=Heaston |first4=Sondra |title=Cultural aspects of death notification following cardiopulmonary resuscitation |journal=Journal of Advanced Nursing |date=July 2018 |volume=74 |issue=7 |pages=1564–1572 |doi=10.1111/jan.13558 |pmid=29495080 }}</ref> Recently in the [[Western world]]—with the increase in terrorism following the [[September 11 attacks]] but also further back in time with suicide bombings, [[kamikaze]] missions in [[World War II]], and suicide missions in a host of other conflicts in history—death for a cause by way of suicide attack, including [[martyrdom]], have had significant cultural impacts.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carducci |first=Bernardo J. |title=The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications |date=2009 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-3635-8 |edition=2nd }}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref>

Suicide, in general, and particularly [[euthanasia]], are also points of cultural debate. Both acts are understood very differently in different cultures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Math |first1=Suresh Bada |last2=Chaturvedi |first2=Santosh K. |date=December 2012 |title=Euthanasia: Right to life vs right to die |journal=Indian Journal of Medical Research |volume=136 |issue=6 |pages=899–902 |pmid=23391785 |pmc=3612319 }}</ref> In Japan, for example, ending a life with honor by [[seppuku]] was considered a desirable death,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Masataka |first=Kosaka |date=March 2005 |title=The Showa Era (1926–1989) |journal=Daedalus |volume=119 |issue=3 |pages=24–27 |doi=10.1162/daed.2005.134.issue-2 |jstor=20025315 }}</ref> whereas according to traditional Christian and Islamic cultures, suicide is viewed as a sin.

[[File:Muerte-Blanca 6.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Santa Muerte]], the personification of death in Mexican tradition<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764662.003.0000 |chapter=Introduction: Blue CandleInsight and Concentration |title=Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint |date=2012 |last1=Chesnut |first1=R. Andrew |pages=3–26 |isbn=978-0-19-976466-2 }}</ref>]]

[[Personifications of death|Death is personified]] in many cultures, with such symbolic representations as the [[Death (personification)|Grim Reaper]], [[Azrael]], the [[Hindu]] god [[Yama]], and [[Father Time]]. In western cultures, the Grim Reaper, or figures similar to it, is the most popular depiction of death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKenna |first=Amy |date=August 17, 2016 |title=Where Does the Concept of a "Grim Reaper" Come From? |url=https://www.britannica.com/story/where-does-the-concept-of-a-grim-reaper-come-from |access-date=February 16, 2023 |website=Britannica |archive-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818231426/https://www.britannica.com/story/where-does-the-concept-of-a-grim-reaper-come-from |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Brazil, death is counted officially when it is registered by existing family members at a cartório, a government-authorized registry. Before being able to file for an official death, the deceased must have been registered for an official birth at the cartório. Though a Public Registry Law guarantees all Brazilian citizens the right to register deaths, regardless of their financial means of their family members (often children), the Brazilian government has not taken away the burden, the hidden costs, and fees of filing for a death. For many impoverished families, the indirect costs and burden of filing for a death lead to a more appealing, unofficial, local, and cultural burial, which, in turn, raises the debate about inaccurate [[mortality rates]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nations|first1=Marilyn K.|last2=Amaral|first2=Mara Lucia|title=Flesh, Blood, Souls, and Households: Cultural Validity in Mortality Inquiry|journal=Medical Anthropology Quarterly|date=September 1999|volume=5|issue=3|pages=204–220|doi=10.1525/maq.1991.5.3.02a00020}}</ref>

Talking about death and witnessing it is a [[Grief|difficult issue]] in most cultures. Western societies may like to treat the dead with the utmost material respect, with an official embalmer and associated rites.<ref name="Brenner-2014" /> Eastern societies (like India) may be more open to accepting it as a ''fait accompli'', with a funeral procession of the dead body ending in an open-air burning-to-ashes.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |editor=Denise Cush |editor2=Catherine A. Robinson |editor3=Michael York |isbn=978-0-7007-1267-0 |location=London |oclc=62133001}}</ref>

=== Origins of death ===
{{Main|Origin of death}}

The [[origin of death]] is a theme or myth of how death came to be. It is present in nearly all cultures across the world, as death is a universal happening.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Green |first=James W. |title=Beyond the good death: the anthropology of modern dying |date=2008 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-0207-6 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=835765644}}</ref> This makes it an [[origin myth]], a myth that describes how a feature of the natural or social world appeared.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Sacred narrative, readings in the theory of myth |date=1984 |publisher=University of California Press |editor-first1=Alan |editor-last1=Dundes |isbn=0-520-05156-4 |location=Berkeley |oclc=9944508}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Myth and method |date=1996 |publisher=University Press of Virginia |editor-first1=Laurie L. |editor-last1=Patton |editor-first2=Wendy |editor-last2=Doniger |isbn=0-8139-1656-9 |location=Charlottesville |oclc=34516050}}</ref> There can be some similarities between myths and cultures. In [[Mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas|North American mythology]], the theme of a man who wants to be immortal and a man who wants to die can be seen across many [[Indigenous peoples|Indigenous people]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boas |first=Franz |date=October 1917 |title=The Origin of Death |journal=The Journal of American Folklore |volume=30 |issue=118 |pages=486–491 |doi=10.2307/534498 |jstor=534498 |jstor-access=free}}</ref> In Christianity, death is the result of the [[fall of man]] after eating the fruit from the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]].<ref name="auto"/> In [[Greek mythology]], the opening of [[Pandora's box]] releases death upon the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lang |first=Andrew |title=Modern mythology |date=2007 |publisher=Echo Library |isbn=978-1-4068-1672-3 |location=Middlesex |oclc=269027849}}</ref>

== Consciousness ==
{{Main|Consciousness after death}}

Much interest and debate surround the question of what happens to one's consciousness as one's body dies. The belief in the permanent loss of consciousness after death is often called ''[[eternal oblivion]]''. The belief that the [[Stream of consciousness (psychology)|stream of consciousness]] is preserved after physical death is described by the term ''[[afterlife]]''.

[[Near-death experience]]s (NDEs) describe the [[Qualia|subjective experiences]] associated with impending death. Some survivors of such experiences report it as "seeing the afterlife while they were dying". Seeing a being of light and talking with it, [[Life review|life flashing before the eyes]], and the confirmation of cultural beliefs of the afterlife are common themes in NDEs.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Greyson |first1=Bruce |title=The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation |last2=James |first2=Debbie |last3=Holden |first3=Janice Miner |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-313-35865-4 |date= 2009}}</ref>

== In biology ==
{{Stages_of_death}}
[[File:Earthworm.jpg|thumb|[[Earthworm]]s are soil-dwelling [[detritivore]]s, which can contribute to the [[decomposition]] of [[organic material]].]]

Death plays a role in [[extinction]], which is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of a [[species]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Purvis |first1=Andy |last2=Jones |first2=Kate E. |last3=Mace |first3=Georgina M. |title=Extinction |journal=BioEssays |date=10 November 2000 |volume=22 |issue=12 |pages=1123–1133 |doi=10.1002/1521-1878(200012)22:12<1123::AID-BIES10>3.0.CO;2-C |pmid=11084628 }}</ref> After death, the remains of a former organism become part of the [[biogeochemical cycle]], during which animals may be [[necrophagy|consumed]] by a [[predator]] or a [[scavenger]].<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/b0-12-226865-2/00032-8 |chapter=Biogeochemical Cycles |title=Encyclopedia of Biodiversity |date=2001 |last1=Falkowski |first1=Paul G. |pages=437–453 |isbn=978-0-12-226865-6 }}</ref> [[Organic material]] may then be further [[decomposition|decomposed]] by [[detritivore]]s, organisms that recycle [[detritus]], returning it to the environment for reuse in the [[food chain]], where these chemicals may eventually end up being consumed and assimilated into the cells of an organism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wetzel |first=Robert |title=Limnology: Lake and River Ecosystems |date= 2001 |publisher=Elsevierda |isbn=978-0-12-744760-5 |edition=3rd |page=700}}</ref> Examples of detritivores include [[earthworm]]s, [[woodlice]], and [[millipede]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lindsey-Robbins |first1=Josephine |last2=Vázquez-Ortega |first2=Angélica |last3=McCluney |first3=Kevin |last4=Pelini |first4=Shannon |date=December 13, 2019 |title=Effects of Detritivores on Nutrient Dynamics and Corn Biomass in Mesocosms |journal=Insects |volume=10 |issue=12 |page=453 |doi=10.3390/insects10120453 |pmid=31847249 |pmc=6955738 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Microorganism]]s also play a vital role, raising the temperature of the decomposing matter as they break it down into yet simpler molecules.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rousk |first1=Johannes |last2=Bengston |first2=Per |date=March 14, 2014 |title=Microbial regulation of global biogeochemical cycles |journal=Frontiers in Microbiology |volume=5 |page=103 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2014.00103 |pmid=24672519 |pmc=3954078 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Not all materials need to be fully decomposed. [[Coal]], a [[fossil fuel]] formed over vast tracts of time in [[swamp]] ecosystems, is one example.<ref>{{Cite book |last=George |first=McGhee |title=Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction: The Late Paleozoic Ice Age World |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-231-18097-9 |pages=98–102}}</ref>

=== Natural selection ===
{{Main|Competition (biology)|Natural selection}}
[[File:Desecased Cowbird on the street.jpg|thumb|Dead [[Scrub blackbird]] in Lima, Perú]]
The contemporary [[history of evolutionary thought|evolutionary theory]] sees death as an important part of the process of [[natural selection]]. It is considered that organisms less [[adaptation|adapted]] to their environment are more likely to die, having produced fewer offspring, thereby reducing their contribution to the [[gene pool]]. Their genes are thus eventually bred out of a population, leading at worst to [[extinction]] and, more positively, making the process possible, referred to as [[speciation]]. Frequency of [[biological reproduction|reproduction]] plays an equally important role in determining species survival: an organism that dies young but leaves numerous offspring displays, according to [[Charles Darwin|Darwinian]] criteria, much greater [[Darwinian fitness|fitness]] than a long-lived organism leaving only one.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gregory |first=T. Ryan |date=June 2009 |title=Understanding Natural Selection: Essential Concepts and Common Misconceptions |journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=156–175 |doi=10.1007/s12052-009-0128-1 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haldane |first=J. B. S. |author-link=J. B. S. Haldane |date=December 1957 |title=The cost of natural selection |journal=[[Journal of Genetics]] |volume=55 |issue=3 |pages=511–524 |doi=10.1007/BF02984069 }}</ref>

Death also has a role in [[Competition (biology)|competition]], where if a species out-competes another, there is a risk of death for the population, especially in the case where they are directly fighting over resources.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Case |first1=Ted J. |last2=Gilpin |first2=Micheal E. |date=August 1, 1974 |title=Interference Competition and Niche Theory |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=71 |issue=8 |pages=3073–3077 |bibcode=1974PNAS...71.3073C |doi=10.1073/pnas.71.8.3073 |pmc=388623 |pmid=4528606 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Evolution of aging and mortality ===
{{Main|Evolution of ageing}}

Inquiry into the evolution of aging aims to explain why so many living things and the vast majority of animals weaken and die with age. However, there are exceptions, such as ''[[Hydra (genus)|Hydra]]'' and the jellyfish ''[[Turritopsis dohrnii]]'', which research shows to be [[biological immortality|biologically immortal]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=National Institute on Aging |date=2020 |title=The National Institute on Aging: Strategic Directions for Research, 2020–2025 |url=https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/aging-strategic-directions-research |access-date=February 16, 2023 |website=National Institute on Aging |archive-date=4 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604212742/https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/aging-strategic-directions-research |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Organisms showing only [[asexual reproduction]], such as bacteria, some [[protist]]s, like the [[euglenoid]]s and many [[amoebozoan]]s, and [[unicellular]] organisms with [[sexual reproduction]], [[Colony (biology)|colonial]] or not, like the [[Volvocales|volvocine]] algae ''[[Pandorina]]'' and ''[[Chlamydomonas]],'' are "immortal" at some extent, dying only due to external hazards, like being eaten or meeting with a fatal accident. In [[multicellular]] organisms and also in [[multinucleate]] [[ciliates]]<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199657148.003.0002 |chapter=The diversity of sexual cycles |title=The Evolution of Sex Determination |date=2014 |last1=Beukeboom |first1=Leo W. |last2=Perrin |first2=Nicolas |pages=18–36 |isbn=978-0-19-965714-8 }}</ref> with a [[Weismann barrier|Weismannist development]], that is, with a division of labor between mortal [[somatic cells|somatic (body) cells]] and "immortal" [[germ cell|germ (reproductive) cells]], death becomes an essential part of life, at least for the somatic line.<ref name=Gilbert>{{cite book|last=Gilbert |first=S.F. |year=2003 |title=Developmental biology |edition=7th |place=Sunderland, Mass |publisher=Sinauer Associates |pages=34–35 |isbn=978-0-87893-258-0}}</ref>

The ''[[Volvox]]'' algae are among the simplest organisms to exhibit that division of labor between two completely different cell types, and as a consequence, include the death of somatic line as a regular, genetically regulated part of its [[Biological life cycle|life history]].<ref name=Gilbert /><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s00497-010-0158-4 |pmid=21174128 |pmc=3098969 |title=Evolution of reproductive development in the volvocine algae |last=Hallmann |first=A. |journal=Sexual Plant Reproduction |date=June 2011 |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=97–112}}</ref>

=== Grief in animals ===
Animals have sometimes shown grief for their partners or "friends". When two [[chimpanzee]]s form a bond together, [[Intimate relationship|sexual]] or [[Platonic love|not]], and one of them dies, the surviving chimpanzee will show signs of grief, ripping out their hair in anger and starting to cry; if the body is removed, they will resist, they will eventually go quiet when the body is gone, but upon seeing the body again, the chimp will return to a violent state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=Arthur E. |date=March 1879 |title=Grief in the Chimpanzee |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-naturalist_1879-03_13_3/page/172 |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=173–175 |doi=10.1086/272298 |jstor=2448772 |bibcode=1879ANat...13..173B |jstor-access=free}}</ref>

Furthermore, anthropologist Barbara J. King has suggested that one way to evaluate the expression of grief in animals is to look for altered behaviors such as social withdrawal, disrupted eating or sleeping, expression of affect, or increased stress reactions in response to the death of a family member, mate, or friend.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Barbara J. |title=How Animals Grieve |date=2014 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-15520-3 }}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref> These criteria do not assume the ability to anticipate death, understand its finality, or experience emotions equivalent to those of humans, but at the same time do not rule out the possibility of those abilities existing in some animals or that different kinds of emotional experiences might constitute grief.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=King |first1=Barbara J |title=Animal mourning: Précis of How animals grieve (King 2013) |journal=Animal Sentience |date=2016 |volume=1 |issue=4 |doi=10.51291/2377-7478.1010 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Based on these criteria, King gives examples of observed potential mourning behaviors in animals such as cetaceans, apes and monkeys, elephants, domesticated animals (including dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, and farmed animals), giraffes, peccaries, donkeys, prairie voles, and some species of birds.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=King |first=Barbara J. |date=2019 |title=The ORCA'S SORROW |journal=Scientific American |volume=320 |issue=3 |pages=30–35 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0319-30 |jstor=27265108 |pmid=39010370 }}</ref>

===Cell death===
{{excerpt|Cell death}}

== Death of abiotic factors ==
Some [[Abiotic component|non-living]] things things can be described as "dead" when they stop functioning or undergo destruction. For example, [[volcanoes]], [[Electric battery|batteries]], [[electrical components]], and stars are often said to "die" once they reach the end of their active state.

[[File:Keplers supernova.jpg|thumb|[[Kepler's Supernova]], after the death of what could have been a [[white dwarf]].<ref>{{cite web
 | title = Chandra X-Ray Observatory
 | work = Kepler's Supernova Remnant: A Star's Death Comes to Life
 | url = http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/kepler/index.html
 | access-date = 16 January 2006 }}</ref>]]

A volcano, a break in the earth's crust that allows [[lava]], [[Pyroclastic flow|ash, and gases]] to escape, has three states that it may be in, active, dormant, and extinct. An [[active volcano]] has recently or is currently [[Erupting volcano|erupting]]; in a [[dormant volcano]], it has not erupted for a significant amount of time, but it may erupt again; in an extinct volcano, it may be cut off from the supply of its lava and will never be expected to erupt again, so the volcano can be considered to be dead.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

A battery can be considered dead after the charge is fully used up. Electrical components are similar in this fashion, in the case that it may not be able to be used again, such as after a spill of water on the components,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baylakoğlu |first1=İlknur |last2=Fortier |first2=Aleksandra |last3=Kyeong |first3=San |last4=Ambat |first4=Rajan |last5=Conseil-Gudla |first5=Helene |last6=Azarian |first6=Michael H. |last7=Pecht |first7=Michael G. |date=October 28, 2021 |title=The detrimental effects of water on electronic devices |journal=E-Prime – Advances in Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Energy |volume=1 |issue=10 |page=1016 |doi=10.1016/j.prime.2021.100016 |doi-access=free }}</ref> the component can be considered dead.

Stars also have a life-span and, therefore, can die. After it starts to run out of fuel, it starts to expand, this can be analogous to the star aging. After it exhausts all fuel, it may explode in a [[supernova]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Croswell |first=Ken |date=2020-01-21 |title=A massive star dies without a bang, revealing the sensitive nature of supernovae |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=117 |issue=3 |pages=1240–1242 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1920319116 |pmc=6983415 |pmid=31964780 |doi-access=free }}</ref> collapse into a [[black hole]], or turn into a [[neutron star]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Heger |first1=A. |last2=Fryer |first2=C. L. |last3=Woosley |first3=S. E. |last4=Langer |first4=N. |last5=Hartmann |first5=D. H. |date=July 2003 |title=How Massive Single Stars End Their Life |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=591 |issue=1 |pages=288–300 |doi=10.1086/375341 |arxiv=astro-ph/0212469 |bibcode=2003ApJ...591..288H }}</ref>

== Religious views ==
=== Buddhism ===
{{See also|Anussati#The ten recollections}}

In Buddhist doctrine and practice, death plays an important role. Awareness of death motivated [[Gautama Buddha|Prince Siddhartha]] to strive to find the [[amrta#Theravada Buddhism|"deathless"]] and finally attain [[enlightenment (Buddhism)|enlightenment]]. In Buddhist doctrine, death functions as a reminder of the value of [[Human beings in Buddhism|having been born as a human being]]. Rebirth as a human being is considered the only state in which one can attain enlightenment. Therefore, death helps remind oneself that one should not take life for granted. The belief in rebirth among Buddhists does not necessarily remove [[existential angst|death anxiety]] since all existence in the [[samsara (Buddhism)|cycle of rebirth]] is considered filled with [[dukkha|suffering]], and being reborn many times does not necessarily mean that one progresses.<ref name="Blum 2004">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/Encyclopedia%20of%20Buddhism_2%20Vols_%20Buswell.pdf|last=Blum|first=Mark L.|editor1-last=Buswell|editor1-first=Robert E.|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Buddhism|volume=1|title=Death|date=2004|publisher=Macmillan Reference, [[Thomson Gale]]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-02-865720-2|page=203|access-date=15 February 2018|archive-date=29 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629160542/http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/Encyclopedia%20of%20Buddhism_2%20Vols_%20Buswell.pdf}}</ref>

Death is part of several key Buddhist tenets, such as the [[Four Noble Truths]] and [[Pratītyasamutpāda|dependent origination]].<ref name="Blum 2004" />

=== Christianity ===
{{speculation|section|date=September 2025}}
{{See also|Soul in the Bible|Second death|Resurrection of the dead#Christianity}}
[[File:Paradiso Canto 31.jpg|thumb|In [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]]'s [[Paradiso (Dante)|Paradiso]], Dante is with Beatrice, staring at the highest heavens.]]

While there are different sects of Christianity with different branches of belief, the overarching ideology on death grows from the knowledge of the afterlife. After death, the individual will undergo a separation from mortality to immortality; their soul leaves the body, entering a realm of spirits. Following this separation of body and spirit (death), [[resurrection]] will occur.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=September 1915|title=A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. Alfred Plummer|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_biblical-world_1915-09_46_3/page/191|journal=The Biblical World|volume=46|issue=3|page=192|doi=10.1086/475371 }}</ref> Representing the same transformation [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] embodied after his body was placed in the tomb for three days, each person's body will be resurrected, reuniting the spirit and body in a perfect form. This process allows the individual's soul to withstand death and transform into life after death.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Resurrection – Resurrection of Christ |doi=10.1163/2468-483x_smuo_com_003831 |encyclopedia=Sacramentum Mundi Online}}</ref>

===Hinduism===
{{See also|Reincarnation#Hinduism|Naraka (Hinduism)|Yama (Hinduism)}}
[[File:Reincarnation_AS.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Illustration depicting Hindu beliefs about [[reincarnation]]]]
<!-- Due to the multitude of interpretations of religious scriptures, they are almost never used to directly substantiate a claim. Secondary sources must be used, with neutrality in mind. See [[WP:RSPSCRIPTURE]]. -->

In [[Hindu texts]], death is described as the individual eternal spiritual ''[[Jiva|jiva-atma]]'' (soul or conscious self) exiting the current temporary material body. The soul exits this body when the body can no longer sustain the conscious self (life), which may be due to mental or physical reasons or, more accurately, the inability to act on one's ''[[Kama#In Hinduism|kama]]'' (material desires).<ref>{{Cite book |last=The Hindu Kama Shastra Society |url=https://archive.org/stream/kamasutraofvatsy00vatsuoft#page/8/mode/2up |title=The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana |publisher=University of Toronto Archives |year=1925 |pages=8–11, 172 }}</ref> During conception, the soul enters a compatible new body based on the remaining merits and demerits of one's ''[[Karma#In Hinduism|karma]]'' (good/bad material activities based on ''[[Dharma#Hinduism|dharma]]'') and the state of one's mind (impressions or last thoughts) at the time of death.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_316-1 |chapter=Rebirth (Hinduism) |title=Hinduism and Tribal Religions |series=Encyclopedia of Indian Religions |date=2018 |last1=Yadav |first1=Richa |pages=1–4 |isbn=978-94-024-1036-5 }}</ref>

Usually, the process of [[Reincarnation#Hinduism|reincarnation]] makes one forget all memories of one's previous life. Because nothing really dies and the temporary material body is always changing, both in this life and the next, death means forgetfulness of one's previous experiences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sharma |first=Arvind |date=March 1996 |title=THE ISSUE OF MEMORY AS A PRAMĀṆA AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF REINCARNATION IN HINDUISM |journal=Journal of Indian Philosophy |publisher=Springer |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=21–36 |doi=10.1007/BF00219274 |jstor=23447913 }}</ref>

===Islam===
{{See also|Islamic view of death}}

The Islamic view is that death is the separation of the soul from the body as well as the beginning of the afterlife.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Jane Idleman |chapter=From Death to Resurrection: Classical Islam |date=2002-12-12 |title=The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection |pages=31–62 |publisher=Oxford University PressNew York |last2=Haddad |first2=Yvonne Yazbeck |doi=10.1093/0195156498.003.0002 |isbn=0-19-515649-8}}</ref> The afterlife, or ''[[akhirah]],'' is one of the six main beliefs in Islam. Rather than seeing death as the end of life, Muslims consider death as a continuation of life in another form.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Puchalski |first1=Christina M. |last2=O'Donnell |first2=Edward |date=July 2005 |title=Religious and spiritual beliefs in end of life care: how major religions view death and dying |journal=Techniques in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=114–121 |doi=10.1053/j.trap.2005.06.003 }}</ref> In Islam, life on earth right now is a short, temporary life and a testing period for every soul. True life begins with the Day of Judgement when all people will be divided into two groups. The righteous believers will be welcomed to ''[[Jannah|janna]]'' (heaven), and the disbelievers and evildoers will be punished in ''[[jahannam]]'' (hellfire).<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Qurʼan: an encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |editor=Oliver Leaman |isbn=0-203-17644-8 |location=London |oclc=68963889}}</ref>

Muslims believe death to be wholly natural and predetermined by God. Only God knows the exact time of a person's death.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tayeb |first1=Mohamad A. |last2=Al-Zamel |first2=Ersan |last3=Fareed |first3=Muhammed M. |last4=Abouellail |first4=Hesham A. |date=May 2010 |title=A 'good death': perspectives of Muslim patients and health care providers |journal=Annals of Saudi Medicine |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=215–221 |doi=10.4103/0256-4947.62836 |pmid=20427938 |pmc=2886872 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Quran|The Quran]] emphasizes that death is inevitable, no matter how much people try to escape death, it will reach everyone. ([[Qaf (surah)|Q50:16]]) Life on earth is the one and only chance for people to prepare themselves for the life to come and choose to either believe or not believe in God, and death is the end of that learning opportunity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campo |first=Juan Eduardo |title=Encyclopedia of Islam |date=2009 |publisher=Facts On File |isbn=978-0-8160-5454-1 |location=New York |oclc=191882169}}</ref>

=== Judaism ===
{{see also|Bereavement in Judaism}}

There are a [[Jewish eschatology#World to come|variety of beliefs about the afterlife within Judaism]], but none of them contradict the preference for life over death. This is partially because death puts a cessation to the possibility of fulfilling any [[Mitzvah|commandments]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raphael |first=Simcha Paull |url=https://www.neshamah.net/images/jewish-views-of-the-afterlife.pdf |title=Jewish Views of the Afterlife |date=May 2021 |access-date=17 February 2023 |archive-date=11 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230611160727/https://neshamah.net/images/jewish-views-of-the-afterlife.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Language ==
The word "death" comes from [[Old English]] ''dēaþ'', which in turn comes from [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] *''dauþuz'' (reconstructed by etymological analysis). This comes from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] stem *''dheu-'' meaning the "process, act, condition of [[dying]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=death|title=Death|website=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013162848/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=death|archive-date=13 October 2016|url-status=live|access-date=5 November 2013}}</ref>

The concept and symptoms of death, and varying degrees of delicacy used in discussion in public forums, have generated numerous scientific, legal, and socially acceptable terms or euphemisms. When a person has died, it is also said they have "passed away", "passed on", "expired", or "gone", among other socially accepted, religiously specific, slang, and irreverent terms.

As a formal reference to a dead person, it has become common practice to use the [[participle]] form of "decease", as in "the deceased"; another noun form is "[[wikt:decedent|decedent]]".

Bereft of life, the dead person is a "corpse", "[[cadaver]]", "body", "set of remains", or when all flesh is gone, a "[[skeleton]]". The terms "[[carrion]]" and "carcass" are also used, usually for dead non-human animals. The ashes left after a [[cremation]] are lately called "cremains".

== See also ==
<!-- See guidelines for "See also" sections here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Layout#%22See_also%22_section ([[MOS:SEEALSO]]) -->
<!-- Please do not add links already in the body of the text. -->
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order. -->
{{Div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[wikt: deathbed|Deathbed]]
* [[Death drive]]
* [[Death row]]
* [[Death trajectory]]
* [[Dying declaration]]
* [[End-of-life care]]
* [[Eschatology]]
* [[Faked death]]
* [[Karōshi]]
* [[Last rites]]
* [[List of expressions related to death]]
* [[Spiritual death]]
* [[Stages of death]]
* [[Survivalism (life after death)]]
* [[Taboo on the dead]]
* [[Thanatology]]
{{div col end}}
<!-- Please keep entries in alphabetical order. -->

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Bondeson |first=Jan |title=Buried Alive: the Terrifying History of our Most Primal Fear |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-393-04906-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/buriedalive00janb}}
* {{cite book |last=Mullin |first=Glenn H. |date=2008 |title=Living in the Face of Death: The Tibetan Tradition |orig-date=1998 |publisher=Snow Lion Publications |location=Ithaca, New York |isbn=978-1-55939-310-2 |ref={{harvid|Mullin|1998}}}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|chapter=[[s:The four last things/Part 1|On Death]] |title=The four last things: death, judgment, hell, heaven|year=1899|publisher= Benziger Brothers|first=Martin of|last=Cochem|author-link=Martin of Cochem}}
* {{cite book|chapter=[[s:St. Vincent's Manual/Considerations on Death|Considerations on Death]]|title=St. Vincent's Manual|year=1856|publisher=John Murphy & Co.|author=Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.}}
* {{cite book|title=[[s:Preparation for Death|Preparation for Death]]|year=1868|publisher=Rivingtons|author=Liguori, Alphonsus}}
* {{cite book|author-last=Marques|author-first=Susana Moreira|translator-last=Sanches|translator-first=Julia|title=Now and At the Hour of Our Death|publisher=And Other Stories|date= 2015|language=en|isbn=978-1-908276-62-9}}
* {{cite book|chapter=[[s:Sermons (Massillon)/Sermon 9|On Death]]|title=Sermons by John-Baptist Massillon|year=1879|publisher=Thomas Tegg & Sons|first=Jean-Baptiste|last=Massillon|author-link=Jean-Baptiste Massillon}}
* {{cite news|work=Slate|title=How One Photographer Overcame His Fear of Death by Photographing It (Walter Schels' ''Life Before Death'')|last=Rosenberg|first=David|date=17 August 2014|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2014/08/17/walter_schels_life_before_death_includes_portraits_of_people_before_and.html}}
* {{cite book|author=Sachs, Jessica Snyder|year=2001|title=Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death|publisher=Perseus Publishing|type=270 pages|isbn=978-0-7382-0336-2|url=https://archive.org/details/corpsenaturefore00sach}}
* {{cite book |title=Modern Death: How Medicine Changed the End of Life |first=Haider |last=Warraich |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-250-10458-8}}

== External links ==
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{{Sister project links |wikt=death |commons=Death |b=no |n=no |q=Death |s=no |v=no}}
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/death/#2 "Death"] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* {{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Death |volume=7 |pages=898–900 |short=1}}
* {{cite web|website=BenBest.com|url=http://www.benbest.com/lifeext/causes.html|author=Best, Ben|title=Causes of Death|access-date=10 June 2016}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiTUvqjTqDk "Death" (video; 10:18)] by [[Timothy Ferris]], producer of the [[Voyager Golden Record]] for [[NASA]]. 2021
* {{cite web|url=http://www.elijahwald.com/origin.html|author=Wald, George|title=The Origin of Death}} A biologist explains life and death in different kinds of organisms, in relation to evolution.
* {{cite web|url=http://rack1.ul.cs.cmu.edu/is/deathtypes/doc.scn?rp=_n |title=Causes of Death 1916|author=U.S. Census|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040918133848/http://rack1.ul.cs.cmu.edu/is/deathtypes/doc.scn?rp=_n|archive-date=18 September 2004}} How the medical profession categorized causes of death.
* {{cite web|url=https://www.lensculture.com/wschels|archive-date=11 October 2014|title=Before and After Death|website=LensCulture.com|author1=Schels, Walter|author2=Lakotta, Beate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011190734/https://www.lensculture.com/wschels}} Interviews with people dying in hospices, and portraits of them before and shortly after, death.
{{Humandevelopment}}
{{Death}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Death| ]]
[[Category:Senescence]]