Self, Death and Afterlife Flashcards
Hard Materialism
Characteristics are all physical
The mind is just neurons firing in the brain
Soft Materialism / Property Dualism
The only substances are physical ones
But there are mental properties
The mind and body cause events in one another
Materialism
One type of substance
Our body and soul are inseparable
Dualism
Exists both bodies and souls
Separate but linked
Substance Dualism
The mind exists independently
Aristotle
- Materialist
- The psyche (soul) is the formal cause of all living things
- Inseparable
- Wax stamp analogy
Plato
- Dualist
- Death is the separation of the soul from the body
- Soul cannot be destroyed as all unseen things are ‘simple’
- Simple things aren’t made up of parts and to destroy something is to break it up into its parts
- Everything comes from its opposite
- So life must come from death
- So our souls must exist in another world beforehand
Cartesian Dualism
- Body and soul exist independently but are connected by the pineal gland
- Body is not needed to live an intellectually aware and active life
- Soul contains our identity which comes from our ability to think and reason
Challenger of dualist view
Bernard Williams
Bernard Williams
Our identity depends on how we recognise each other so includes our body
Other challenges to dualism
- Science has shown link between body and mind so how can they exist independently?
- If our minds are non-physical, how can they cause a physical reaction
Hick’s replica theory
- John smith analogy
- Allows us to conceive the divine reincarnation of an individual
Quantum Consciousness
Microtubules are released at death
Category mistake philosopher
Ryle
Ryle’s view
- Hard materialist
- We talk about the soul as if it is a substance, this is a category mistake
- ‘ghost in the machine’
- Our soul is how we interact with each other
Dawkins
Memes and Genes
Memes are a contribution to the world’s culture
Challenge to Dawkin’s memes
Maurice Bloch:
- A communication link is established
- This brings it into a different mental universe
- Losing its identity and specificity
Hindu Reincarnation
- You have a physical body
- Contains your Atman (soul)
- Which contains your Jiva (Immortal essence)
- Aim is to escape the cycle of samsara and achieve moksha
- Done by achieving good karma and your dharma
- karma is carried from one life to the next and determines how you are reincarnated
- No personal attributes are carried, just your Jiva
Buddhist Rebirth
- There is no soul
- There is an evolving stream of consciousness that upon death causes the rise of a new aggregation
- Neither distinct nor different from the old one
- Candle analogy
