Philippe Aries, one of the most original French historians of the 20 th century, made qualitative approaches to the history of death of Western civilization and suggested 5 stages of attitudes toward death for period from the Middle Ages till today. His thesis fascinated a lof of scholars, but at same time was criticized especially on his arbitrary qualitative approaches. Therefore this article wants to answer to the question whether a quantitative apporach would be possible for the history of death. Michel Vovelle gives a clear anser to this in his book of “Piété baroque et déchristianisation en Provence au XVIIIe siècle” in 1978, showing a full possibility of practicing quantitative analysis on the history of death. We can organize his contributions on the study of the history of death in three. Firstly, Vovelle offered more useful conceptual formats to social scientists and historians by suggesting various concepts and methods of approach than Aries did. Secondly, Vovelle suggested more meticulous analysis on the subtleness of belief and the diversity of action. While Aries didn’t work to explain how the heart of death changed systematically, Vovelle explains the causal relationship of the belief in death and the changes in action. Thirdly, Aries was satisfied with painting a big picture of the attitude towards death, while Vovelle tried to determine the relations among demographic history, folklore, religion and politics. Vovelle’s conclusion coincides with Aries’ at large, but Vovelle’s methodology and objectives can be more progressive and exquisite.
1. 서론
2. 미셸 보벨의 계량적 연구
3. 결론