Self, death and the afterlife

Question 1

Aristotle - empiricist

Answer 1

‘To attain any assured knowledge about the soul is one of the most difficult things in the world.’

Question 2

Aristotle - eye

Answer 2

‘Suppose the eye were an animal - sight would be its soul, for sight is the substance of the eye.’
‘as the pupil plus the power of sight constitutes the animal. From this it is clear that the soul is inseparable from its body.’

Question 3

Gilbert Ryle

Answer 3

The Ghost in the Machine’’ is ‘a category-mistake.’

Question 4

Dawkins - Functionalism

Answer 4

‘There is no spirit driven life force… no mystic jelly. life is just bytes and bytes of information.’

Question 5

Dawkins - Abraham

Answer 5

‘He didn’t promise Abraham eternal life… the future lay with his seed, not his individuality God knew his Darwinism.’

Question 6

Russell - Physical continuity

Answer 6

‘I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive.’

Question 7

Daniel Dennett - consciousness is…

Answer 7

‘The activities of a virtual machine realised in the astronomically adjustable connections of a human brain.’

Question 8

Socrates - Immortal soul

Answer 8

‘When I have drunk the poison, I shall leave you and go to the joys of the blessed.’

Question 9

Kant - Immortal soul

Answer 9

‘Thus the summum bonum is only possible o the presupposition of the immortality of the soul.’

Question 10

Resurrection - Luke 24:39

Answer 10

‘Look at my hands and my feet… touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.’

Question 11

Mind and body united at resurrection - Job 19:25

Answer 11

‘After my skins has been destroyed, them in my flesh shall I see God.’

Question 12

St Paul - 1 Corinthians 15:52

Answer 12

‘For the trumpet shall sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed.’

Question 13

Swinburne

Answer 13

‘If a man does survive death, he will take his most central desires and beliefs with him.’