The Instituto Cervantes is pleased to continue its collaboration with the Oxford Literary Festival for another year. This year with the participation of philosopher Susan Monsó who combines philosophical theory with the latest findings in ethology and comparative psychology, in order to explain that when it comes to death we are just like other species.
Philosopher Susana Monsó blends philosophical insight with the latest research on behavioural science and psychology to explain that when it comes to death or dying we are just another animal.
Monsó explores what other animals such as the Opossum can teach us about how we and other creatures understand mortality. She looks at ants that attend their own funeral, chimpanzees that clean the teeth of the dead, dogs that snack on their caregivers, elephants obsessed with collecting ivory and whales that carry their dead for weeks. Monsó says there are more ways to conceive of mortality than the human way and challenges the idea that the only emotional reactions to death worthy of attention are ones that resemble our own.
Monsó is associate professor of philosophy in the Department of Logic, History and Philosophy of Science at the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid.Part of the festival’s programme of Spanish and Latin American literature and culture.