Can Changing Our Views on Death Improve How We Live Our Lives?

Presented by Notre Dame Research

Life is not possible without death and yet, modern medicine has waged an unending war against death. Now, a Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study (NDIAS) residential fellow is exploring how the concept of kenosis might create a common ground for personal growth, mutual understanding, civil discourse and productive policymaking in today’s diverse and polarized society.

Daniel Hinshaw, M.D., professor emeritus of surgery and consultant in palliative medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, has joined the NDIAS for the 2018-2019 cohort to discuss kenosis in his upcoming book. In Classical Greek, “kenosis” meant “depletion” or “emptying,” and in Christian theology, the term was used to describe the voluntary self-emptying of God in becoming a human being in the person of Jesus Christ.