Disembodied existence

1. Disembodied existence LO: I will examine the coherence of the idea of disembodied existence

3. Active reading – Use the handout • Disembodied existence – Note the response of Swinburne and Davies • H. H. Price on life after death • Criticisms of Price • Near Death Experiences as evidence for life after death • Scepticism about NDE’s • We will read through the first part together, and then half of the class will focus on Price (covering 2 and 3) and the other half will do NDE’s (covering 4 and 5.) Be ready to share what you have read with the rest of the class.

4. Arrange clouds across the sky… Near death experiences are common amongst resuscitated patients. They may suggest that we are more than just physical beings. Some people are able to recall details of past lives. Belief in life after death says more about human psychology, i.e. our own wishful thinking, than it does about reality. Hume argues that given the fragility of the mind, it is more likely to be destroyed by death rather than to survive it. It is difficult to establish how we can be sure that a person in the next life is the same person as the embodied person who died. The summum bonum cannot be achieved in this life. Moral perfection requires there to be an afterlife. There is an almost universal belief in life after death. Why do so many different cultures share these similar ideas? The phrase ‘I will survive my own death’ is meaningless. Hick’s replica theory seeks to establish that life after death is still a logical possibility regardless of whether humans have souls. Paranormal phenomena such as telepathy, ESP, mediums and psychic activity provide some impressive and puzzling cases. Not all can be dismissed scientifically. Much of what we used to attribute to the soul can now be explained by neuroscience and located within the physical brain.

5. Near death experiences are common amongst resuscitated patients. They may suggest that we are more than just physical beings. Much of what we used to attribute to the soul can now be explained by neuroscience and located within the physical brain. Paranormal phenomena such as telepathy, ESP, mediums and psychic activity provide some impressive and puzzling cases. Not all can be dismissed scientifically. Hume argues that given the fragility of the mind, it is more likely to be destroyed by death rather than to survive it. There is an almost universal belief in life after death. Why do so many different cultures share these similar ideas? The summum bonum cannot be achieved in this life. Moral perfection requires there to be an afterlife. It is difficult to establish how we can be sure that a person in the next life is the same person as the embodied person who died. The phrase ‘I will survive my own death’ is meaningless. Hick’s replica theory seeks to establish that life after death is still a logical possibility regardless of whether humans have souls. Some people are able to recall details of past lives. Belief in life after death says more about human psychology, i.e. our own wishful thinking, than it does about reality.

6. Revision – Use Taylor handout • We have covered the following: • The body-soul dualism of Plato • Aristotle’s dualism and how it differs to Plato • Dawkins’ rejection of the traditional idea of the soul • Hick’s materialism and how his replica theory suggests the possibility of life after death • Resurrection • Reincarnation • Disembodied experience • Assess the coherence of ALL of the views above, and consider arguments for and against their positions. We will cover the problem of evil after the assessment