AQA A-Level Religious Studies - Self, Death and Afterlife (Philosophy)

Plato's World of Forms

There is an alternate world with a perfect form of everything we see in nature - everything we see in the world is derived from these perfect forms

Psyche

Greek word for soul, spirit and mind

Thumos

In Plato's understanding, the part of the psyche/soul corresponding to pugnacity, righteous indignation etc. it is subordinate to the rational part

Nous

Greek word for intellect

Materialism

The only thing that exists is the material substance that makes up our bodies, we are one thing and have no separate soul

Scientific Materialism

The belief that physical reality, as seen through the natural sciences, is all that truly exists.
Our personality is the result of a scientific chain reaction, personal identity comes from the brain not the soul

Dualism

There is a separate 'soul' within the body - we are two things

Radical

Extreme as in 'radical dualism': the view that mind and matter are radically different, in particular, mind is not the same as the brain

Qualia

The qualities of a subjective conscious experience, for example what it feels like in your mind to experience redness, or smell a rose

Neuroscience

The study of the brain and the nervous system

What is Plato's view of the soul?

• eternal and uncreated, predates human life and is immortal in its own right
• at death it goes to the world of forms, where it contemplates the form of the good before being reincarnated
• strong dualist
• made of an eternal substance which cannot be destroyed

What would Plato answer to 'Is there personal existence after death'?

He believes the soul exists after death, whether ths is a different realm or in a different body

What would Plato answer to 'Is there personal identity after death'?

Plato believes the soul has always had the same identity, before life began and the physical body existed, this identity lives on after death.

What is Aristotle's view of the soul?

• doesnt believe in the immortatility of the soul
• scholars argue over whether he was a weak dualist or a monist as he believes that both the body and soul will die
• he believes the soul is part of the body and gives it life
• the soul makes a thing what it is e.g. a human has a human soul

What would Aristotle answer to 'Is there personal existence after death'?

No, as neither the soul or the body are immortal, so they die at death

What would Aristotle answer to 'Is there personal identity after death'?

No, as the soul is not immortal, neither is the body, the soul has identity and this doesn't exist after death

What's Descartes' view on the soul?

• rational mind and the soul are synonymous
• the mind is distinct from the body, but makes contact with the body within the brain (pineal gland)
• in the mind are all feelings and sensations that we experience
• Descartes believes the mind is not located within the body
• the mind is where all non-physical events take place

What would Descartes answer to 'Is there personal existence after death'?

Yes, as the mind can survive the body

What would Descartes answer to 'Is there personal identity after death'?

The mind contains personal identity and can survive the body, so one can still be the same person after death

How is Descartes agenda religious?

• For believers, it is enough to accept using faith that the soul doesn't die with the body
• For non-believers, no religion will convince them of the soul being separate, only reason can

What was Descartes' essential argument that the mind and body are distinct substances?

• Matter is res extensa (extended substance)
• Mind is res cognita (mental substance)

What is Descartes first proof: argument from doubt?

• I can doubt my body exists
• But I cannot doubt that I exist as a thinking thing (doubt is thinking)
• Therefore (because I am thinking), I am not the same as my body

Does Descartes' first proof work?

• Most philosophers think the mind is a product of the brain, and the brain is a part of the body
• Without a body, the mind cannot exist

What is Descartes' second proof: argument from divisibility and non-divisibility?

• All bodies are extended in space (3 dimensions), and therefore divisible
• Minds re not extended in space, and are therefore not divisible
• Therefore, minds are radically different from bodies

Does Descartes' second proof work?

modern neuroscience shows correlation between mind and brain, when the brain is damaged, the mind is damaged and 'divided'

What is Descartes' third proof: the argument from clear and distinct perception?

• whatever I clearly and distinctively perceive as two different things can be created separately by God
• I clearly and distinctively perceive myself as a non-extended thinking thing
• I have a clear and distinct perception of my body as an extended non-thinking being
• so, my body and mind are separate

Does Descartes' third proof work?

• first point is flawed, as earlier Descartes deduces God from clear and distinct perceptions, but now he is deducing these perceptions from God
• this is the Cartesian circle