Self and life after death Flashcards
Descartes argument for the existence of the soul
- The body is spatial but not conscious
- The mind is spacial but is conscious
- When people die their body is left behind although their soul is able to continue with God
(They are ontologically separate but interacting entities)
Descartes attempts to prove in ___ _________ that the mind is distinct and separate from the body
“The Meditations”
What is Descartes view now known as?
Cartesian dualism
What is the first argument in Cartesian dualism
The argument from doubt
What is the argument from doubt?
The next step Descartes takes is to propose that the mind and body are two separate and distinct entities, and his argument goes as follows:
- I am certain that I am a thinking thing
- I am not certain that I am a physical thing
- Therefore, I am not a physical thing
What is Descartes second argument?
Argument from clear and distinct perception
What is the argument from clear and distinct perception?
___________ dismissed dualism as a theory about _______________________
Gilbert Ryle
“a ghost [mind] in a machine [body]
What theory is associated with Plato?
Plato’s theory of forms
What is Plato’s theory of Forms?
- While the physical body is part of the world of sense perception, the mind is related to that higher reality of the forms
- Plato argues that only composite things (things made up of parts) can be destroyed or naturally disintegrate
- But while bodies are composite, souls are non-material and simple (without parts), and therefore cannot be destroyed one created - a soul is permanent and cannot die
- This is the basis for what we term “dualism” (the belief that reality has two aspects). For Plato there is a world of ideal Forms separate from the world of sense perception
The most well known exposition of Plato’s theory of forms is…
His allegory of the cave
Analyse the term “allegory”
“allegory” comes from the Latin “allegoria” (meaning to imply something else). An allegory represents a larger point about society or human nature
In what work was the Allegory of the case presented in?
“Republic”
Allegory of the cave in relation to the soul
The cave represents people who believe that knowledge comes from what we see and hear from the world - empirical evidence
Once we see the light outside the cave, our perspective on the world changes. Plato believes our souls change. The soul now contemplates reality rather than imagining shadows of reality
