Self, Death and Afterlife Flashcards
What is covered in general?
Dualism:
* Plato
* Descartes
* Near-Death Experiences
* Reincarnation
Monism:
* Aristotle
* Daniel Dennett -> inspired by Alan Turing
* Richard Dawkins
* Derek Parfit
What is Plato’s view on Dualism?
- Forms - Plato’s view of things in the physical world as a perfect representation in the metaphysical realm
- In the metaphysical realm all things are eternal, perfect, and metaphysical
- The physical body is part of the empirical world, whereas the mind is part of the Forms.
- Our soul cannot be destroyed and is eternal
- The soul consists of three parts: The logical part, Thumos (emotions and character traits), the appetitive part (the appetites for sex, food, and drink)
What is Descartes’ argument and the proofs for it?
Descartes’ argument:
* The mind and body are distinct substances
* Matter is res extensa
* Mind is res cognita
Descartes’ proofs:
* The Argument from Doubt
* The Argument from Divisibility and Non-divisibility
* The Argument from Clear and Distinct Perception
* Descartes’ Interactionism
What is the Argument from Doubt?
- Suppose that there might be a malicious demon that can make you doubt everything around you in the world
- You can doubt your body exists
- But you cannot doubt that you exist as a thinking being
- Therefore, as a thinking being, you are not identical with your body
What is the Argument from Divisibility and Non-divisibility?
- All bodies are extended in space, and are therefore divisible
- Minds are not extended in space, and are therefore not divisible
- Therefore, minds are radically different from bodies
What is the Argument from Clear and Distinct Perception?
- Descartes argued that he has a ‘clear and distinct’ perception that the mind is radically different from the body
- Descartes states that his perception has been given to him by God
- God is not a deceiver and wouldn’t allow Descartes to be mistaken about what he clearly and distinctly perceives
- Therefore, Descartes’ perception is veridical
What is Descartes’ Interactionism?
- At the time, the pineal gland was the only part of the brain which function was unknown
- Descartes suggested that the pineal gland was the point at which the mind controlled the body
- Descartes regarded the pineal gland as what formed the link between the body and soul
What are Descartes’ criticisms?
Argument from Doubt:
* Neuroscience suggests that the mind is a product of the brain, which itself is part of the physical body
Argument from Divisibility and Non-divisibility:
* Psychologists have shown that the mind is divisible
* They have scientifically shown that the left and right cerebral hemispheres control different aspects of our thinking
Argument from Clear and Distinct Perception:
* The Cartesian Circle arises - Descartes is contradicting himself as he deduces the existence of God from clear and distinct perceptions, but also wants to deduce our reliability of our clear and distinct perceptions from the existence of God
Descartes’ Interactionism:
* The pineal gland now has a function which has been discovered, scientifically discrediting Descartes’ Interactionism
Gilbert Ryle’s criticism:
* Ryle accused Descartes of making a ‘catergorical mistake’
* Ryle states that we should not expect to find something extra in the form of the mind over and above the different parts of the body…
* … since the comparison of physical matter to non-physical matter is meaningless
What are the support and criticisms for reincarnation?
Support:
* Past-life regression and direct past-life recall
Criticisms:
* There are tendencies from those that believe in reincarnation to invent evidence
* There are weak research procedures
What are the support and criticisms for near-death experiences?
Support:
* Some people have reported being brought back to life after dying - floating above their body and looking down at themselves
* NDE’s give support for the idea of a mind-brain seperation at death, and for the continuation of consciousness after death
Criticisms:
* Mind are non-physical empirically unobservable metaphysical entities, and therefore cannot be explained empirically
* Some people believe that NDE’s can be explained away by drugs or lack of oxygen to the brain
* There are currently no scientific explanations for NDE’s
What is Aristotle’s view on Monism?
- Aristotle was an empiricist
- He rejected Plato’s metaphysical theories
- Aristotle argued that all living things have souls and that a creature’s soul is its ‘principle of life’ which distinguishes it from a corpse
- Aristotle doesn’t believe that the body and soul can be seperated
- For Aristotle, the soul is mortal
- Aristotle states that the soul is what enables a living thing to maintain itself in life, organising it to get what it needs
What is Daniel Dennett’s view on Monism including the criticisms against his view?
- Dennett was inspired by Alan Turing
- Believed that the mind could run on a physical platform - such as a computer
Criticisms:
* Rules out any way of surviving after death other than as a memory or through being ran on a physical platform
* The physical brain cannot account for qualia when being ran on a computer - takes away the quality of subjective experience which is what makes humans human
What is qualia?
Qualia is is personal subjective experience - e.g. the tastiness of wine
What is Richard Dawkins’ view on Monism?
- Dawkins argued that when people’s bodies and brains die - they also die
- He quoted ‘When I die, I rot’
- However, Dawkins did believe that since our DNA survives after death - it is technically a form of immortality
- He believes that the passing of our genes into subsequent generations means that we can ‘live on’, even though it isn’t physical
What is Derek Parfit’s view on Monism including the criticisms against his view?
- Parfit stated that ‘survival’ after death is possible through continuing to exist in the memories of the relatives and friends that we leave behind
Criticisms:
* Some people argue against this by saying that it is meaningless since our individual self doesn’t survive after death
