Life After Death

Question 1

dualism

Answer 1

• the mind and body are separate entities, but influence each other
• human beings have partly material and partly non material natures
• mind/soul survives after death

Question 2

three different dualistic views:

Answer 2

• mind depends on body to function
• mind/body influence each other but the two need to be conscious and aware of the world
• mind and body are separate entities that are mysteriously locked together in this world, soul will escape and live on after death

Question 3

plato soul

Answer 3

plato believed that the soul and body are separate entities:
- body belonged to physical body and one day will cease to exist
- soul belongs to a higher relm where eternal truths such as love and justice endure forever

Question 4

plato two famous arguments for dualism

Answer 4

meno: gets a slave boy to do simple geometry, the boy reaches conclusions he could not have met in his life, the geometrical knowledge must of come from boys soul

phaedo: based on ‘like gives to rise’, the body and mind are so different that its impossible that the mind and body are made up of the material world, the soul must of been an eternal reality which existed before birth

Question 5

strengths of dualism

Answer 5

• takes its strength from philosophers such as descartes who tried to prove that the mind and body exist separately
• may allow for mental continuity between life and the afterlife - it is the same thinking self throughout

Question 6

weaknesses of dualism

Answer 6

• gilbert ryle (ghost in the machine): dualists believe that “the mind is a ghost in the machine of the body” ryle disagreed
• we must understand the mind in the context of the physical body and behaviour
• isnt the body an important part of someones behaviour?

Question 7

monism

Answer 7

• the body and mind/soul are linked together to form one entity, life after death involves the body and mind/soul linked together
• human beings are psycho-physical units
• there is no distinct mind and body, but are both one reality

Question 8

near death experiences - features

Answer 8

• feeling of peace
• out of body experiences
• tunnel of light
• the decision to return

Question 9

spiritualism

Answer 9

claims that after death there is a spirit world in which the deceased can go. spiritualists claim that the deceased can be contacted through experts known as mediums through seanceas

Question 10

evidence for life after death

Answer 10

supernatural/psychic evidence: some claim there is evidence for spiritual forces working beyond the body. evidence such as telepathy and spirituaism

reflation/authority: some regard life after death as a certainty based on religious texts, faith and teachings

rational/logical arguments: if we agree w ppl like descartes (‘i think therefore i am’), then we know what our internal thinking self-constitutes what is ‘really us