ABSTRACT

The reader of this volume cannot fail to be impressed by the remarkable— indeed, almost bewildering—variety of topics, theories, methods, and disciplinary matrices being brought to bear on the human encounter with loss. If nothing else, this recent burgeoning of interest in the subject speaks to the often bold pioneering efforts of the contributors to this sourcebook, to say nothing of the breadth of vision of its editor! But this same diversity also raises a fundamental question that represents something of a linguistic counterpart to the implied assertion in the title of Harvey and Weber's contribution (Chapter 24): 1 "Can There Be a Psychology of Loss?"