Self, Death and the Afterlife

materialism definition

belief that the soul does not exist - the self is solely physical

Ghost in the Machine

Gilbert Ryle - humans function like computers/machines. It is illogical to think that a ‘ghost’ or spirit operates a machine and leads it to do its functions -therefore the same assumption is illogical for humans

'machines of meat’

Richard Dawkins, biologist and hard materialist. Humans are like machines only made of flesh. There is nothing else to a person, no spiritual element

dualism definition

the soul and body are separate, there is a spiritual element to the self

Plato’s beliefs on the soul

• Plato’s Republic: the soul is immortal and existed first - it continues to be reincarnated or born into the world of forms

• the body is mortal, physical matter, ‘gross and unthinking’

• there is personal existence after death and human life should focus on getting the soul to the ideal form

Aristotle’s beliefs on the soul

• Aristotle’s De Anima: the soul and the body are separate - each person has a particular soul that makes them what they are (eg, a dog has a dog’s soul) - the soul is responsible for developing character and temper

• the soul and body are inseparable, like fingerprints in wax,they support each other

• BUT neither the body or soul survive death - there is no personal existence after death

Descartes definition

Cartesian/Substance dualism, we are made of two separate substances

mind (Descartes)

res cognita - spiritual and non-corporeal

matter (Descartes)

res extensa - physical and corporeal

Argument from Doubt

• Cogito, ergo sum - ‘I think therefore I am’

• I can doubt that my body exists, but I cannot doubt that I exist as a thinking being as doubting is a form of thinking

• THEREFORE because I am a thinking being, I am not identical with my body

Argument from Divisibility and Non-divisibility

• bodies are extended in space (exist in 3D) and are therefore divisible

• minds are not extended in space (exist in 3D) and are therefore not divisible

• THEREFORE minds are radically different from bodies

Argument from Clear and Distinct Perception

• whatever I clearly and distinctly perceive as two different things can be created by God as two different things

• I have a clear and distinct perception of my body as two different things

• THEREFORE I am distinct from my body

Criticism of 3 proofs

• Descartes uses God and Fideism, which was rejected by enlightenment thinking of the time

• it could be argued that consciousness is a product of the human brain - ‘mind/soul’ = brain activity

• Neuroscience tells us the mind depends on the physical brain (if the brain is physically damaged,one’s personality may change)

• the pineal gland being where the mind ‘enters’ is scientifically problematic

Physicalism (criticism of Cartesian dualism)

• things are matter only

• a soul or a mind are not needed to explain the nature of people

• everything has a physical cause - eg,emotions are the result of chemical changes

• there is no soul or mind,only the brain

functionalism (Cartesian Dualism criticism)

• cognitive science compares the mind to a computer

• the mind consists of sensory inputs and behavioural outputs

• the mind is not a THING it is a FUNCTION that inputs data and generates an outcome

• therefore we do not have a mind, a mind is something that happens when we experience sensory data

Interactionism

there are two substances, mind and body, and they interact with each other

Dual Aspect Monism

belief that we are ontologically one substance, but that substance has two aspects

• we are made of physical and spiritual aspects BUT they are part of one substance that makes us up

• neither can survive death within our scientific worldview

• belief in the soul is not necessary we just have spiritual aspects to our being

aspects of a person (DAM)

• Qualia - awareness/sensual experiences eg, tasting food, physical pain - 1st person

• Physical experience actually happening in the brain eg, chemicals released when feeling physical pain - 3rd person

the Hard Problem of Consciousness

• how does the physical brain produce consciousness when consciousness seems so different to the physical brain?

• may reject materialism - neuroscience shows when we make a decision, parts of the brain are electronically alive, BUT this does not tell us HOW a conscious decision is reached - we may still need ‘thinking self’

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Replica Theory Scholar

Hick

Replica Theory

• Hick’s way of reconciling materialist beliefs with an afterlife

• at the moment of death, a replica of the person appears in the resurrected world. the replica has the same personal identity that lived before it, so Hick believed it is the same person

• uses bodily resurrection as opposed to spiritual

Replica Theory possibility

God is omnipotent, as such it is logically possible for such an afterlife to take place

• God’s omnipotence is central to this theory

Criticisms of Replica Theory

the replica body is not the same as the one that died - it is not the original

THEREFORE it is not an example of continued existence, but God creating a brand new being

Hicks response to criticism

analogy: if a man named John Smith went missing in the US and reappeared in India, having the same looks, personality and feeling he was the same person he would be treated as such

THEREFORE personal existence can continue through the Replica Theory

Light Bulb Theory scholar

Swinburne

Light Bulb Theory

soul = light bulb, body = light socket

when the two are connected the lightbulb gives out light, when disconnected cannot shine

• at death the body is disconnected from the soul

• in heaven the soul is able to live/experience again

• the afterlife is like plugging back in a lightbulb

Near Death Experience - definition

a report given by someone pronounced clinically dead about what happened during that time

Evidence for NDEs

• Pam Reynold’s experience - accurately recalled her surgical procedure watching ‘out of body’ and saw a ‘bright light’, typically described in NDEs

• Dr Peter Fenwick’s research - only 14% of NDEs had received any drugs, suggests it is not a hallucination

• Children can give accurate accounts of NDEs, talking about things they would not usually comprehend eg, Colton Burpo

• NDEs occur in all parts of the world, all races, genders, ages and throughout history - the commonality of NDEs and the events recalled suggest truth to them

evidence against NDEs

• NDEs are the result of hypoxia (lack of oxygen), the dying brain creates feelings of euphoria recalled

• Dr Persinger’s God Helmet - neuroscientist created a helmet which can recreate the effects of NDE, suggesting it is due to physical effects not spiritual

• American jet fighters experience the tunnel’ effect seen in NDEs due to lack of blood flow to the brain in acceleration

• Freudians - NDEs are hallucinatory wishful thinking to overcome fear of death