Life, Death And The Soul

Question 1

what is dualism?

Answer 1

the idea that there are 2 aspects to human beings, the physical and the mental. The mental may be identified with the soul

Question 2

what is materialism?

Answer 2

the idea that human beings consist of physical matter alone

Question 3

what is monism?

Answer 3

the idea that human beings are made up of one substance, the word is often used synonymously with materialism

Question 4

why did Plato believe the soul was more important than the body?

Answer 4

the body is part of the empirical world and like all objects is subject to change. this is one of the reasons Plato said the senses cannot be a reliable guide to truth
the soul he believed to be “simple”. unlike physical matter of the body, the soul cannot be split into parts nor can it change. it is also capable of knowledge of other simple ideas such as the forms

Question 5

what is Plato’s quote about the body?

Answer 5

“the body is the source of endless trouble to us by the reason of the mere requirement of food…it fills us full of loves, and lusts and fears, and fancies all kinds, and endless foolery”

Question 6

what does Plato believe out bodies distacts us from?

Answer 6

our real purpose, philosophical thought

Question 7

what was Plato’s analogy to describe the inner workings of the soul?

Answer 7

he asks us to inagin a charioteer I’m charge of 2 horses. one horse is a little wayward. there are 3 aspects of the soul; reason, spirit and appetite/desire. the soul works best when the reason/charioteer is in charge. the horses often pull I’m different directions: our appetite can pull us in the wrong direction so we need our spirit to determine the right thing to do.
a good person is one who’s soul is properly balanced with reason at the helm

Question 8

why does Plato belive the soul is eternal ?

Answer 8

the soul existed prior to its incarnation in the human body and will also exist after death. the soul cannot change so it must have always exsited.
the soul was in the realm of the forms. the soul has knowledge of the forms before being pulled to earth by our appetites and so when we cmgain knowledge we are merely remembering this from our prior existence in the realm of the forms.

Question 9

why does Plato call the body a prison?

Answer 9

the soul is incarnatedin the body and experiences all the tension of the conflict between the body and soul and so the body is a prison, it will only be liberated after death

Question 10

what does Plato believe happens to the soul after the body dies ?

Answer 10

it will be freed from the body and will be reincarnated into another body it eventually return to the realm of the forms

Question 11

what is Plato’s quite about pure knowledge?

Answer 11

“while in the company with the body the soul cannot have pure knowledge”

Question 12

what are the 2 main grounds on which Plato argues for the soul?

Answer 12

1. the sould has knowledge of eternal ideas and is able to recognise forms such as beauty. Plato uses the example of Socrates questioning a slave boy about geometrical problems he has never faced before. the slaves answers demonstrate an awarness of Pythagoras’ theorem, which demonstrates that the soul has knowledge from its prior existence. learning is therefore remembering.
2. the body and soul are opposites. one makes the other necccesairt just as the concept of light makes us aware of darkness. Plato argues that death is a thing and so that death is the even if the soul leaving the body as birth (or conception) is the soul entering the body

Question 13

what are the 2 main grounds on which Plato argues for the soul?

Answer 13

1. the sould has knowledge of eternal ideas and is able to recognise forms such as beauty. Plato uses the example of Socrates questioning a slave boy about geometrical problems he has never faced before. the slaves answers demonstrate an awarness of Pythagoras’ theorem, which demonstrates that the soul has knowledge from its prior existence. learning is therefore remembering.
2. the body and soul are opposites. one makes the other necccesairt just as the concept of light makes us aware of darkness. Plato argues that death is a thing and so that death is the even if the soul leaving the body as birth (or conception) is the soul entering the body

Question 14

what does Richard Dawkins believe makes up a person?

Answer 14

Dawkins believes we are purely products of our genes. our bodies enable our genes to survive and ultimately our genes are passed on via reproduction. although we may have the apperanec of design, we are the product of random favourable variations that were necessary in order tovgwt to where we are now

Question 15

who did Dawkins believe the idea of the soul came from?

Answer 15

he beleives the “soul” is a mythological concept invented by the ancient Greeks to explain the mysteries of consciousness. as God, he beleived the soul to be a gap filler. “not an explanation but am evasion”

Question 16

what would did Dawkins reject and accept?

Answer 16

Dawkins strongly rejects the soul in the platonic sense- soul one. but believes there may be a place for talking about the soul in a symbolic way by soul two

Question 17

what is soul one?

Answer 17

the traditional view that the soul exists separately to the body

Question 18

what is soul two?

Answer 18

as defined by the oxfor dictionary, this refers to “intellectual or spiritual power high development if the mental faculties. deep feeling and sensitivity.” Dawkins argues this is a meaningful way of describing ourselves provided we are clear that this does not refer to a separate thing

Question 19

give a quote from Dawkins on soul one and soul two

Answer 19

“probably within the next century, soul one will finally be killed, and good riddance. But in the process, soul two, far from being destroyed”

Question 20

how does Aristotle critisice Plato?

Answer 20

Aristotle says the forms are unecessary. he argues that properties are not additonal to the object. if we consider beauty, Plato would argue beauty exists as a form. however, for Aristotle beauty is a property of beautiful objects. without beautiful things, there would be no beauty

Question 21

does Aristotle believe the soul is separate from the body?

Answer 21

no, he believes the soul is the formal cause of the body. it is the characteristics and attributes we all have. the body is the raw material, like the marble of a sculpture. the soul is the form, like the characteristics of the sculpture when finished.
so the soul is merely a description if the essence of objects or properties of the body. it is out personality and abilities. the soul is the form of the body

Question 22

what is a quote from Aristotle on the soul?

Answer 22

“it indubitably follows that the soul is seperate from the body”

Question 23

can the soul be divided from the body according to Aristotle?

Answer 23

No. the body is not a prison for the soul as Plato think but is essential to us. we are body and soul

Question 24

what are the analogies given for the Aristotlain view on the soul?

Answer 24

Bertrand Russell gives the example of a game of football. football could not exists if there were no footballers. the soul could not exist without the body.
Aristotle gives the example that if the body were and axe, the soul would be its ability to chop

Question 25

what did Aristotle believe human soil was made up of?

Answer 25

rational and irrational parts. the rational parts consist of abilities that plants and animals have. it is made of vegative elements and appetitive elements.

Question 26

what is Aristotle’s hierarchy of the souls?

Answer 26

plants are at the bottom because they only have vegetative element which is essentially the ability to gain nutrition. animals have this vegetative element and an appetitive element which involves movement and desire. the human soul is different and superior as it has the ability to reason.

Question 27

for Aristotle, what separates man from animal?

Answer 27

the ability to reason

Question 28

what did Rene Descartes believe?

Answer 28

it is logically possible to doubt all things we know empirically. for example we may say that we know our body is real because we can feel out arm but phantom limb syndrom suggest pain can be a mentally programmed occurrence and so the body can also be doubted. however, it is not possible to doubt that when you think about the existence of your thinking, your thinking must exist “I think therefore I am”. therefore if your body can be doubted and your mind proved, it stands to reason these are separate things.

Question 29

what does Hick reject?

Answer 29

John Nick rejects the traditional belief in body-soul dualism by adopting a materialist position. he beilibes the duality belief on body soul dualism owes more to Plato than it does the Judep Christian traditon

Question 30

what does Hick believe we are talking about when we talk about the soul?

Answer 30

we are merely describing the mental characteristics or aspects of our personality. hense talk of the soul is always describing our value as human beings

Question 31

Hick states that is no mysterious “ghost in the machine”. what does this mean?

Answer 31

“ghost in the machine” was a phrase first cooned by Giblert Ryle as a criticism of dualism, paticukarky that of decartes. Ryle suggest that dualism teaches that there is a mysterous ghost like substance that ‘rattles aroubd inside the machine’

Question 32

Hick beleived all that needs to be said about it can be explained by reference to out physical selves both in terms of our genes and upbringing. what is a quote for this?

Answer 32

“a package of genetic information has programmed the growth of a living organism in continuous interaction with its environment

Question 33

what does the Roman Catholic church teach about how souls are given?

Answer 33

that each individual soul of created and implanted by God

Question 34

how did Hick believe souls were given?

Answer 34

the 3rd century bishop Terutillainhad argues that souls were passed down from parents. this idea is onien as Traducianism. this idea seems to be keeping with modern science and fits I’m with Hicks idea that the soul does not refer to something extra implanted by God

Question 35

what is traducianism?

Answer 35

an early Christian teaching that sould were passed down from parents rather than uniquely implanted by God

Question 36

what is Hicks theory in life after death?

Answer 36

Hick believes in replica theory.the death of the body is the death of the person however he argues that God can recreate a person in another space after death.

Question 37

what is a quote for Hick on replica theory?

Answer 37

“we can think of it as a divine creation in another space of an exact psycho-physical ‘replica’ if the deceased person

Question 38

what were the thought experiments Hick out foward to support replica theory?

Answer 38

suppose John Smith were to disappear in London and then reappear again in New York. presumably we would believe that he was the same person who disappeared in London. tests could be done to prove he was the same person

suppose of John Smith dies in London and be recreated in New York. presumably we would identify John Smith as being the person in New York rather than the body in London

finally, suppose John Smith dies in London and is buried. is it not logically possible that God could recreate him in another world? Hick argues that this is close to what saint Paul teaches about resurrection.

Question 39

what did Hick beleive the key to identity is?

Answer 39

true memories. if th recreated replica remembers their former existence, there are grounds for claiming that it is the same person