self and life after death Flashcards
what is Plato’s idea of the soul?
- dualist – exists separately to the body
- allegory of the cave
- world of appearances, world of forms
- soul belongs to the world of forms and returns after death
- soul is divided into three parts
- rational part — immortal, controls other two
- spirited part — emotions, character traits
- appetitive part - mortal, drives for food, sex, drink
What is Descartes view of the soul?
- substantive dualist – mind and body are distinct substances
- argument of doubt
- argument from divisibility and non divisibility
- argument from clear and distinct perception
what is Descartes argument of doubt?
- he could doubt the existence of his body
- the ability to doubt means he cant doubt his existence as a thinking being
- therefore, as a thinking being he was not identical with his body
what is Descartes argument from divisibility and non divisibility?
- all bodies take up space and are therefore divisible
- mental states dont and arent divisible
- therefore they are different and seperate
what is Descartes argument from clear and distinct perception?
- attributed his perception of two different things to God creating two things
- himself as a thinking being, his body as a non thinking bein
- he was distinct from his body
- soul was immortal
what is Aristotles Monist view of the soul?
- empiricist view – based on senses
- soul is what gives something its essential nature
- through Reason, humans are able to make moral and intellectual development
- soul is mortal
evaluation of Platos view of the soul
- there is no good evidence for the metaphysical world of forms
- for many, the idea of the seperateness of the soul fits with the feeling of looking at a corpse and feeling as though something has left it
evaluation of Descartes arguments for the existence of the soul
- argument of doubt
- most philosophers view consciousness or the mind as a product of the brain, which is physical
- argument of divisibility
- science shows a close link between mind and brain
- argument from clear and distinct perception
- viewed as a circular argument
what are Humes challenges to Descartes argument
- thought may have a material explanation
- since souls are not located in space, how do we know there is only one soul
what is a strength and weakness of Aristotles idea of the soul
- the christian view is that at death the soul leaves the body to return to its true home
- many people believe the mind/soul is distinct but at the same time inseperable from the body
what are platos views on the body - soul relationship
- the physical body is subject to corruption and change and imprisons the soul (psyche)
- the soul is seperate from the body and is eternal
- at death the body perishes but the soul returns to the world of forms and reborn
- the soul gives the body life and directs it
weaknesses of platos view of the body/soul relationship
- people think of themselves as an integrated whole
- neuroscience suggests that the mind and brain are closely interrelated, and some would argue they are the same thing
how does decartes explain how the non-physical mind and physical body interract
(interactionism)
- the soul is in the pineal gland
- regarded this as the seat of imagination and common sense
- formed the link between body and soul
- the pineal gland is the only part of the brain that was single and its functions are unknown
weaknesses of descartes interactionism
- the pineal glands function is now known
- best case, descartes explanation suggests where the interaction takes place, not how
- Gilbert Ryle accused descartes of màking a category mistake. to talk of the mind/soul is not to talk of some disembodied ghost
what is physicalism
- everything can be explained in terms of matter
- is reductionist
- the mind reduces to the brain
- consciousness is nothing but electro-chemical occurrences in the brain
- there is no body - soul relationship because there is no soul
what is functionalism
- a type of physicalism that sees the mind in terms of what it does
- the mind is a system that processes information inputted from sense experience and it then generates an appropriate outcome
- there is no reason why the mind could not be uploaded onto a different platform from the human brain e.g a computer
what does richard dawkins believe about the body-soul relationship
- humans are simply carriers of DNA
- the role of the body is to be a survival machine for genes. the good survive the bad die
- there is no immortal soul guiding us
weaknesses and strengths of physicalism
+ seems for certain that the mind and body are closely related
- physicalism is very determinist, problem when talkin about free will and moral responsibility
- emotions are not physical, neither are thoughts
what is dual aspect monism
- monist in its claim that there is only one entity. - reductionist like physicalism
- the one entity is unknown but has two aspects and we can see the difference between them by looking at the brain and mind
- brain - observable by science and is physical
what are the three broad categories under the idea of personal identity
- personal identity is physical
- personal identity is metaphysical
- personal identity is psychological
how might personal identity be physical
- the functioning brain is essential to being a person
- there are many changes to the body throughout life
- so bodily ‘identity’ is about spatio-temporal continuity
how might personal identity be metaphysical
- what is real about people is their unchanged conscious awareness
- campbell used the example of the Big Ben striking the hour to argue that there is such a thing as a conscious, self-aware mind
how might personal identity be psychological
- during our lives there is connectedness to the past and future, but no deeper and enduring level of self
- there is genetic and psychological continuity with ancestors and, after death, with offspring and descendents
what does Anthony Flew believe about the possibility of physical existence after death
- concept of life after death is linguistically incoherent
- talk of life after death is effectively talking about dead survivors which is self contradictory
what does Russell believe about the possibility of physical existence after death and identity
- concepts about surviving death come from the fear of death
- the continual change in each of us means there can be no distinctive identity
- we are simply a collection of experiences that arise out of memories and habit
what is hicks replica theory
- soft materialist
- 3 scenarios to his theory
- a living person transported in an instant to one part of the world to another
- a dead person in one part of the world & a replica in another
- a dead person & appearance as a resurrected person in another sphere
weakness and strength of hicks replica theory
+ his belief in future states of existence fits with beliefs about reincarnation
- many unanswered questions about the details or the scenarios. the possibility that god could create a number of replicas, each of which would have a different consciousness
why might christians regard resurrection as bodily?
- the gospels all record an empty tomb and three record resurrection appearances
- paul lists resurrection appearances and speaks of bodily resurrection
- the nicene creed states belief in the resurrection of the body
why might christians regard resurrection as spiritual
- Jesus’ teaching about resurrection suggests he had a more spiritual concept of the afterlife
- there is no reference to an empty tomb in pauls letters
- in pauls teaching of the resurrection of christians he thinks in terms of continuity yet discontinuity
- before death we have an earthly body and after death we hàv have a spiritual body
two weaknesses of christian beliefs about resurrection
- the literalist understanding is contrary to scientific fact: dead bodies dont come back to life
- the more liberal understanding that the resurrection is meta physical is impossible to investigate scientifically
why does plato believe in the natural immortality of the soul
- soul is eternal, world of forms (WoF)
- everything comes into existence from its opposite: living beings die so life must come from death
- knowledge isnt about learning new things but about remembering what the soul has observed (WoF) but is an imperfect memory because of the trauma of being imprisoned in a body
- plato believed in the transmigration of souls
what does price believe about the possibility of the existence of a conscious self after death
- disembodied souls
- modern version of platos
- the afterlife is mind based
- analogy of a dream – a state in which we perform physical actions
- the environment of the souls after death would be a reflection of desires and memories
- his thinking was influenced by parapsychology
- souls would communicate through telepathy
what does swinburne believe about the existence of a conscious self after death
- dualist who believes mental states are soul states
- analogy of lightbulb – soul is different to brain
- in a body or not it can survive death
retaining memories/desires w same identity - all the soul needs is something to replace
the function performed by the brain - this is possible because god is omnipotent
- in a body or not it can survive death
- like hick, he is pointing to a logical possibility rather than claiming fact
what are the weaknesses of plato and price’s theory of a conscious self after death
- Plato’s theory of opposites doesnt work
- price’s theory is dependent on parapsychology which is challenged by many
what is the hindu belief in the reincarnation of the soul
- the atman (soul), is eternal, indestructible and unchangeable
- the sharira (body) is created, mortal and subject to change
- the atman is imprisoned in the sharira
- at death karma determines whether the atman can be freed from samsara (cycle of life, death and reincarnation) to attain nirvana or a body
what evidence supports the hindu belief in the reincarnation of the soul
- past life regression, where under hypnosis an individual recalls a supposed past life
- direct past life recall , in which children claim to remember a past life
what is a strength and weaknesses of the hindu belief of the reincarnation of the soul
+ spontaneous childhood memories seem very convincing
- other explanations like cryptomnesia (the mistaking of an old memory as a new or original thought or idea)
- some of the research procedures have been weak
how are near death experiences evidence of a conscious self after death
- found in all cultures and religions
- range of commonly occurring features
- out of body experience
- going through a tunnel towards a bright
light - meeting deceased loved ones
- feelings of immense peace or terror
- coming to a point of no return
what are weaknesses of seeing near death experiences as evidence of life after death
- the individuals are not actually dead so do not provide evidence for life after death
- the experiences are hallucinations caused by medications or by the brains release of endorphins
what are strengths of near death experiences being seen as evidence of life after death
- examples of people with no optic nerve reporting sightings can be quoted in support of their genuineness
- the transformation of lives is evidence for the genuineness of the experience
what is Parfit’s bundle theory
- it sees continuity after death in terms of psychological connectedness
- any influence people have in life continues after death as long as they are remembered
- there is no such thing as a self: individuals are ‘bundles’ of ever changing states of being
how do Parfit’s ideas link to Buddhism
- buddhists believe that the ever changing combination of mental and physical energies occuring throughout this life is a process that continues after death
- this suggests that the idea of some form of personal survival after death may be compatible with bundle theory
what does dennett believe about the possibility of psychological continuity after death
- functionalist
- the human brain’s computer program consists of the experiences, memories and personality that form the narrative self
- these could survive the death of the individual through having been stored on another platform, such as a computer
- this stored information would be psychologically continuous with what went before
weaknesses of Parfit’s and Dennetts theories
- parfit – how can thoughts exist without a thinker. it is the self that holds together all the events in an individual’s life forms them into a connected narrative
- both theories dismiss the idea of consciousness as the subjective experience of individuals
- neuro science cannot explain qualia which are essentially subjective experiences
