Life after death
Part 1
Mind and body
What is death?
 A definition:
– ‘Complete and permanent cessation of all vital
functions in a living creature, the end of life’
 All agree on the first part many disagree
with the idea of it being the ‘end of life’
How could life continue?
 Through our genes in our children and
descendants
 We live on in our life’s work
 We live on in the memory of others
 Immortality of the soul
 Resurrection of the body
 Reincarnation
Materialism or Dualism?
 Two main theories of human nature
 Materialists believe that the mind and body
of a human are inseparable
 Dualists believe that humans consist of a
body and a soul
Materialism
 There is no soul
 Most materialists believe that at death the
whole person ceases to exist
 Gilbert Ryle
 The Concept of the Mind (1949)
– Ghost in the machine
– A category mistake
Materialism
Hard Materialism
Soft Materialism
All characteristics are
physical ones
Mind cannot be
separated from body
Consciousness is just
brain activity
When body dies so does
the brain
Not all characteristics are
physical
Mind and body are
related
Consciousness is more
than just brain activity
When body dies so does
the brain
Materialism
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There is no scientific evidence for the soul
The soul cannot be located in the body
The body is matter only
Therefore there is no soul
Materialist argument
against an afterlife
– Life depends on a functioning brain, nervous
system and physical body
– Death involves the destruction of the brain, the
nervous system and physical body
– Therefore a person’s life ends at death as
without a physical form, life cannot be
supported
Dualism
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Mind determines personality
Body is a shell for the real self
Body is contingent and will end
The mind is immortal and considers higher
realities
 Truth, goodness, justice
Plato
– A dualist
– Body and soul are two separate substances that
interact
– Soul is immortal and contains the real identity
– Plato developed idea of forms
– Body belongs to the physical contingent world
– Soul wants to go to the world of ideas and stay
there for eternity
Aristotle
– Soul is part of the body
– It is what turns the physical form into a living
thing of a particular type
– Soul and body are inseparable
– Soul develops character but cannot survive
death
– But is Aristotle a materialist? He did believe that
the body and the soul were different
René Descartes
– A Dualist
– Mind includes feelings and sensations that
cannot be located physically
– Concluded ‘I think therefore I am’
 Mind and body are different
 Each have own special characteristics
 Mind is a substance that is to ‘think’
 Body is a material that is to ‘take up space’
René Descartes
 Concluded
– Identity comes from thinking and reasoning
– Conceivable that we could survive our body and
remain same person
– Believed body not needed to live intellectually
– We can make drastic changes to our bodies but
remain the same person
– Believed that after death our soul can life on
with God
St Thomas Aquinas
– Agreed with Aristotle
– Soul animates the body – gives it life
– Soul operates independently of body
– Only things that are divisible decay
– Soul is not divisible
– Therefore soul can survive death
– But link between body and soul
– So soul can retain individual identity
Putting it all together
 Answer the following exam question in
groups
 ‘The soul is just a part of the body’. Discuss.
How to answer
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Start with the problem – Why are we even discussing this?
Explain Materialism and Dualism
Explain the views of Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Aquinas.
What do you think and why?
Conclusion
Life after death
Part 2
Replication
Christian View
 Most Christians believe in the resurrection of
the body
 Most Christians believe in the immortality of
the soul
– The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man
became a living being.
Genesis 2.7
 But disagree on whether resurrection is
physical or spiritual
Heaven and Hell
 There are different Christian views on what
happens to the soul
 The soul may remain close to earth, ascend to
Heaven, descend into Hell or participate in a
general resurrection
 For many Christians Heaven and Hell provide an
understanding of evil and suffering
– A physical body will be needed to experience torment
 Liberal Christians place little emphasis on a place
Personal identity
 If resurrection is physical then people can be
recognised
 But if spiritual how will recognition take place?
 What is the ‘I’ ?
 Memories
 Personality
 Physical looks
 Personal Identity is a problem for any form of
afterlife
 Just how can we be sure it is actually the same person?
John Hick
 Hick is a materialist
 But he believes that people can live after
death
 This is possible through the creation of a
replica
 God is all-powerful
 Therefore he can create a replica
Replica Theory
 John Smith lived in America
 One day he vanishes in front of his friends
 At precisely the same time a replica of Smith appears
in India
 Hick argues it is the same person
 Smith dies in America and a replica appears
in India
 Smith dies in America and a replica appears
in a parallel universe
Replica Theory
 Is it the same person?
 What should we look for to identify the
replica as being the same person?
 Hick argues that if the replica looks like the
original, has the same memories and
personality, we would assume it to be the
same person
Objections to the Replica Theory
 A replica is not the same as the original
– Art collectors would not pay £1000s for a replica picture
because it is not the original
 If God can create one replica why not many? Then
which would be the real person?
 Hick’s theory relies on God actually existing, but
many philosophers do not accept the existence of
God and therefore his theory fails
St Paul’s view
 Hick provides a possible way in which
resurrection could take place
 But he does not suggest the resurrection of the
original body
 Rather it is the re-creation of the person who died
 Hick’s view is compatible with Christian idea
of resurrection
 St Paul wrote to the Corinthians
– The body is buried mortal, when raised, it will be immortal…
…when buried it is a physical body, when raised it will be a
spiritual body
Richard Dawkins
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Writer of many books
Atheist
An empiricist
Focuses on evolution
Belief in a soul is a failure to accept that
evil and suffering have no purpose
 Another replication theory
Richard Dawkins
 Humans are nothing more than their DNA
 The only thing that can be said to survive a
person’s death is their DNA
 provided they have children
 If people learnt to reason as scientists they
would be better humans
 Science answers questions about origin, whereas
religion depends on faith
Richard Dawkins
 Dawkins explains our consciousness in
terms of memes
 Genes are the physical replicators
 Memes are human culture replicators
 Memes enable cultural survival
 But also evolve
Richard Dawkins
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Writer of many books
Atheist
An empiricist
Focuses on evolution
Belief in a soul is a failure to accept that
evil and suffering have no purpose
Putting it all together
 Answer the following exam question in
groups
 ‘The resurrection of the body is not possible’.
Discuss.
How to answer
 Start with an explanation of what we mean by
resurrection
 Explain why it is a problem
 Refer to the biblical idea of resurrection
 Mention St Paul
 Explain the problems with personal identity
 Discuss Hick’s replica theory
 Explain the problems of the theory
 What do you think and why?
 Conclusion
Life and death
Part 3
Reincarnation
Evidence for existence of a soul
Reincarnation
 Could be referred to as Rebirth
 At death the soul moves from the dead body
into a new body
 The new body is totally different from the old
 Usually there are no memories of the
previous life
 Therefore personal identity cannot be
retained
Buddhism
 There is an interconnection between each
life that does not involve a soul
 Connection made through karma
– Karma means ‘action’
– Relationship between what a person does and
what happens to them
 ‘I’ is not the person living a single life but the
union of all lived lives.
Hinduism
 Atman = soul and is eternal
 Individuals develop through cycle of life,
death and rebirth
 Aim is to work to be reunited with Brahman
 Living right (dharma) gives good karma
 Usually no memories of a previous life
Near Death Experience
 Advances in medical research mean that
more people declared as clinically dead are
being resuscitated
 Dr Raymond Moody saw similarity in the
experiences of people who were
resuscitated
 His investigations revealed…
 At moment of death many have a feeling of
floating above their body
 They can observe what is happening around them
 Movement unrestricted – can move through walls
 Sense of bliss, ecstasy and peace
 Rapid movement down a tunnel with bight light at
the end
 Dead friends and relatives are waiting at the end
 At end of tunnel there is a beautiful place with a
sense of the divine
 Panoramic view of their entire life
 Made aware of how their actions have effect their
life and others
 Told it is not yet their time to die and they return
Near Death Experience
 No two NDE’s identical
 Longer person is dead the more in depth
their experience
 Not all people resuscitated have such
experiences
Regression to Past Lives
 If we have past lives some believe we should have
memories
 Some people do claim to have memories of a past
life
– Children sometimes make comments that suggest they
are remembering a past life
– People under hypnosis have given accounts of past
lives
 Research can confirm the accuracy of their claim
Regression to Past Lives
 Reasons why their claims might be false
– Could be recalling information already gained in
this life
– Maybe a cultural gene that passes information
down
– Memories could be suppressed events of this
life
Sightings
 Dr Deepak Chopra
– Bodies are effectively energy
– Appear solid but actually are an impulse of
energy
– When someone dies the energy field remains
 Made be seen by others
 Perceived as a ghost
 Unlikely to be hallucinations as often seen
by more than one person
Sightings
 Alternative explanations
– Hoax or elaborate trick
– ‘stone tape’ theory. Like a magnetic tape. Event
is played back in right conditions
– Mistaken identity
– Power of suggestion
Spiritualism
 Communication between dead and living
 Messages give comfort to the bereaved
 Some mediums have been shown to be
frauds
 Others appear genuine
 Could be real communication with spirits
 Could be telepathic communication with the
living
Putting it all together
 Answer the following exam question in
groups
 Shakespeare described death as ‘the
undiscovered country from whose bourn no
traveller returns.’ There are those who would
argue that people have returned from ‘the
undiscovered country’. Discuss the evidence put
forward as proof that there is life after death, and
the form that life after death might take.
How to answer
 Consider ideas that provide evidence of life after death
– NDE’s, Regression, Sightings, Spiritualism
– You do not have time to write too much so you have to deal
with them briefly but clearly
– Give a critical analysis of the ideas
 Explain the two main theories of possible forms of
after life
– Resurrection
– Reincarnation
– Give a critical analysis of both
 What do you think and why?
 Conclusion