Grief and the family

Millar, Becky 2025. Grief and the family. Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and the Family, Routledge, Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

Losing a family member is, for many people, one of life’s most disorienting experiences. Although it is recognised that grief is heterogeneous, much of the literature within the philosophy of grief focuses on the archetypal case of grieving a much-loved family member with whom a life was closely shared. Plausible accounts of such grief have emphasised disrupted habitual patterns, lost futural possibilities, and the role of others in scaffolding the grieving process. However, these accounts appear less apt for characterising other common types of family bereavement—those involving more distant, negative, or even abusive relationships. Such relationships may have involved neither shared habitual patterns nor a sense of meaningful futural possibilities, and the grief experienced is more likely to lack social recognition. This chapter explores such experiences of familial bereavement, arguing that a deceased family member may have an enduring impact on aspects of one’s identity—even when they played a minimal or negative role in day-to-day life.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > English, Communication and Philosophy
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Publisher:	Routledge
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 April 2025
Last Modified:	10 Apr 2025 09:15
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177369

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