Michael Cholbi, "Grief: A Philosophical Guide" (Princeton UP, 2022)
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What is Michael Cholbi’s main argument about the purpose of grief?
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Hello, and thanks for joining us for this episode of New Books and Philosophy, which is part of the New Books Network. I'm Robert Felice. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co-host the program with Carrie Figter, Malcolm Keating, and Sarah Tyson. My guest today is Michael Cholby. Michael is Chair in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on moral issues concerning death and dying. His new book has just been published with Princeton University Press. It's titled Grief, a Philosophical Guide. We think of grief as a normal response to the death of a loved one. We're familiar with the so-called five stages of grief. And so grief seems to us as an emotional episode that befalls us along life's way.
Something to be endured, but then gotten over. But maybe grief isn't as straightforward as it may seem. For one thing, we can grieve for strangers, and although there seems to be something like a duty to grieve, it's not clear to whom that duty could be owed. Perhaps grief is indeed a psychologically normal response to death, but might it nonetheless be bad for us to grieve? Now, despite these questions, there's been surprisingly little attention given to grief among philosophers. But with his new book, Michael Cholby seeks to buck that trend. Now, as usual, there's a lot to talk about. So lucky for us, we've got the author with us. Hi, Michael. Hello, Bob. How are you today?
I'm well. It's the time of year here in Edinburgh where the days get awfully short. So even though it's only four in the afternoon, it is entirely dark here.
Well, it's an unseasonably warm day in Nashville, I'm sorry to say. I think it's like 64 degrees or something in the middle of December. But what all of that portends aside, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Certainly. So as my accent betrays, I am not Scottish. I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon in the United States. But subsequent to my adolescence in Oregon,
I
lived in several regions of the US on the East Coast predominantly before I had an extended stint in the Southern California area from 2003 to 2020. And subsequent to that, I took a position here in Edinburgh in Scotland. I think the fact that I'm living and working now in Scotland and teaching at this institution is very surprising to me and quite remarkable, I think, in light of my own biography. I came from a family that did not have a history of people attending university or anything like that. I was the first person in my family really to attend university in a traditional way and certainly the first to pursue doctoral studies. So if I reflect back on my own journey, I guess, It strikes me as quite astonishing that I'm living and working where I am now.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is Michael Cholbi’s main argument about the purpose of grief?
0:00–7:11
2
How does the book define the scope of who we are allowed to grieve?
7:11–14:55
3
Why does Cholbi claim that grief is tied to our practical identities?
14:55–24:11
4
What is the “paradox of grief” and how can it be resolved?
24:11–32:07
5
In what sense can grief be considered a rational (or irrational) response?
32:07–39:20
6
How do cultural norms and duration affect the rationality of grief?
39:20–47:49
7
What duty does Cholbi see us having toward ourselves when we grieve?
47:49–56:20
8
Why does the author argue against medicalizing grief?
56:20–1:04:05
Speakers
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