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Philosophy of Religion > self and life after death > Flashcards

self and life after death Flashcards

1
Q

what is Plato’s idea of the soul?

A
  • dualist – exists separately to the body
  • allegory of the cave
    • world of appearances, world of forms
  • soul belongs to the world of forms and returns after death
  • soul is divided into three parts
    • rational part — immortal, controls other two
    • spirited part — emotions, character traits
    • appetitive part - mortal, drives for food, sex, drink
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2
Q

What is Descartes view of the soul?

A
  • substantive dualist – mind and body are distinct substances
  • argument of doubt
  • argument from divisibility and non divisibility
  • argument from clear and distinct perception
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3
Q

what is Descartes argument of doubt?

A
  • he could doubt the existence of his body
  • the ability to doubt means he cant doubt his existence as a thinking being
  • therefore, as a thinking being he was not identical with his body
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4
Q

what is Descartes argument from divisibility and non divisibility?

A
  • all bodies take up space and are therefore divisible
  • mental states dont and arent divisible
  • therefore they are different and seperate
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5
Q

what is Descartes argument from clear and distinct perception?

A
  • attributed his perception of two different things to God creating two things
  • himself as a thinking being, his body as a non thinking bein
  • he was distinct from his body
  • soul was immortal
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6
Q

what is Aristotles Monist view of the soul?

A
  • empiricist view – based on senses
  • soul is what gives something its essential nature
  • through Reason, humans are able to make moral and intellectual development
  • soul is mortal
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7
Q

evaluation of Platos view of the soul

A
  • there is no good evidence for the metaphysical world of forms
  • for many, the idea of the seperateness of the soul fits with the feeling of looking at a corpse and feeling as though something has left it
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8
Q

evaluation of Descartes arguments for the existence of the soul

A
  • argument of doubt
    • most philosophers view consciousness or the mind as a product of the brain, which is physical
  • argument of divisibility
    • science shows a close link between mind and brain
  • argument from clear and distinct perception
    • viewed as a circular argument
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9
Q

what are Humes challenges to Descartes argument

A
  • thought may have a material explanation
  • since souls are not located in space, how do we know there is only one soul
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10
Q

what is a strength and weakness of Aristotles idea of the soul

A
  • the christian view is that at death the soul leaves the body to return to its true home
  • many people believe the mind/soul is distinct but at the same time inseperable from the body
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11
Q

what are platos views on the body - soul relationship

A
  • the physical body is subject to corruption and change and imprisons the soul (psyche)
  • the soul is seperate from the body and is eternal
  • at death the body perishes but the soul returns to the world of forms and reborn
  • the soul gives the body life and directs it
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12
Q

weaknesses of platos view of the body/soul relationship

A
  • people think of themselves as an integrated whole
  • neuroscience suggests that the mind and brain are closely interrelated, and some would argue they are the same thing
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13
Q

how does decartes explain how the non-physical mind and physical body interract
(interactionism)

A
  • the soul is in the pineal gland
  • regarded this as the seat of imagination and common sense
  • formed the link between body and soul
  • the pineal gland is the only part of the brain that was single and its functions are unknown
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14
Q

weaknesses of descartes interactionism

A
  • the pineal glands function is now known
  • best case, descartes explanation suggests where the interaction takes place, not how
  • Gilbert Ryle accused descartes of màking a category mistake. to talk of the mind/soul is not to talk of some disembodied ghost
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15
Q

what is physicalism

A
  • everything can be explained in terms of matter
  • is reductionist
  • the mind reduces to the brain
  • consciousness is nothing but electro-chemical occurrences in the brain
  • there is no body - soul relationship because there is no soul
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16
Q

what is functionalism

A
  • a type of physicalism that sees the mind in terms of what it does
  • the mind is a system that processes information inputted from sense experience and it then generates an appropriate outcome
  • there is no reason why the mind could not be uploaded onto a different platform from the human brain e.g a computer
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17
Q

what does richard dawkins believe about the body-soul relationship

A
  • humans are simply carriers of DNA
  • the role of the body is to be a survival machine for genes. the good survive the bad die
  • there is no immortal soul guiding us
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18
Q

weaknesses and strengths of physicalism

A

+ seems for certain that the mind and body are closely related
- physicalism is very determinist, problem when talkin about free will and moral responsibility
- emotions are not physical, neither are thoughts

19
Q

what is dual aspect monism

A
  • monist in its claim that there is only one entity. - reductionist like physicalism
  • the one entity is unknown but has two aspects and we can see the difference between them by looking at the brain and mind
    • brain - observable by science and is physical
20
Q

what are the three broad categories under the idea of personal identity

A
  • personal identity is physical
  • personal identity is metaphysical
  • personal identity is psychological
21
Q

how might personal identity be physical

A
  • the functioning brain is essential to being a person
  • there are many changes to the body throughout life
  • so bodily ‘identity’ is about spatio-temporal continuity
22
Q

how might personal identity be metaphysical

A
  • what is real about people is their unchanged conscious awareness
  • campbell used the example of the Big Ben striking the hour to argue that there is such a thing as a conscious, self-aware mind
23
Q

how might personal identity be psychological

A
  • during our lives there is connectedness to the past and future, but no deeper and enduring level of self
  • there is genetic and psychological continuity with ancestors and, after death, with offspring and descendents
24
Q

what does Anthony Flew believe about the possibility of physical existence after death

A
  • concept of life after death is linguistically incoherent
  • talk of life after death is effectively talking about dead survivors which is self contradictory
25
Q

what does Russell believe about the possibility of physical existence after death

A
  • concepts about surviving death come from the fear of death
  • the continual change in each of us means there can be no distinctive identity
    • we are simply a collection of experiences that arise out of memories and habit
26
Q

what is hicks replica theory

A
  • soft materialist
  • 3 scenarios to his theory
    • a living person transported in an instant to one part of the world to another
    • a dead person in one part of the world & a replica in another
    • a dead person & appearance as a resurrected person in another sphere
27
Q

weakness and strength of hicks replica theory

A

+ his belief in future states of existence fits with beliefs about reincarnation
- many unanswered questions about the details or the scenarios. the possibility that god could create a number of replicas, each of which would have a different consciousness

28
Q

why might christians regard resurrection as bodily?

A
  • the gospels all record an empty tomb and three record resurrection appearances
  • paul lists resurrection appearances and speaks of bodily resurrection
  • the nicene creed states belief in the resurrection of the body
29
Q

why might christians regard resurrection as spiritual

A
  • Jesus’ teaching about resurrection suggests he had a more spiritual concept of the afterlife
  • there is no reference to an empty tomb in pauls letters
  • in pauls teaching of the resurrection of christians he thinks in terms of continuity yet discontinuity
  • before death we have an earthly body and after death we hàv have a spiritual body
30
Q

two weaknesses of christian beliefs about resurrection

A
  • the literalist understanding is contrary to scientific fact: dead bodies dont come back to life
  • the more liberal understanding that the resurrection is meta physical is impossible to investigate scientifically
31
Q

why does plato believe in the natural immortality of the soul

A
  • soul is eternal, world of forms (WoF)
  • everything comes into existence from its opposite: living beings die so life must come from death
  • knowledge isnt about learning new things but about remembering what the soul has observed (WoF) but is an imperfect memory because of the trauma of being imprisoned in a body
  • plato believed in the transmigration of souls
32
Q

what does price believe about the possibility of the existence of a conscious self after death

A
  • disembodied souls
  • modern version of platos
  • the afterlife is mind based
    • analogy of a dream – a state in which we perform physical actions
    • the environment of the souls after death would be a reflection of desires and memories
  • his thinking was influenced by parapsychology
  • souls would communicate through telepathy
33
Q

what does swinburne believe about the existence of a conscious self after death

A
  • dualist who believes mental states are soul states
  • analogy of lightbulb – soul is different to brain
    • in a body or not it can survive death
      retaining memories/desires w same identity
    • all the soul needs is something to replace
      the function performed by the brain
    • this is possible because god is omnipotent
  • like hick, he is pointing to a logical possibility rather than claiming fact
34
Q

what are the weaknesses of plato and price’s theory of a conscious self after death

A
  • Plato’s theory of opposites doesnt work
  • price’s theory is dependent on parapsychology which is challenged by many
35
Q

what is the hindu belief in the reincarnation of the soul

A
  • the atman (soul), is eternal, indestructible and unchangeable
  • the sharira (body) is created, mortal and subject to change
  • the atman is imprisoned in the sharira
  • at death karma determines whether the atman can be freed from samsara (cycle of life, death and reincarnation) to attain nirvana or a body
36
Q

what evidence supports the hindu belief in the reincarnation of the soul

A
  • past life regression, where under hypnosis an individual recalls a supposed past life
  • direct past life recall , in which children claim to remember a past life
37
Q

what is a strength and weaknesses of the hindu belief of the reincarnation of the soul

A

+ spontaneous childhood memories seem very convincing
- other explanations like cryptomnesia (the mistaking of an old memory as a new or original thought or idea)
- some of the research procedures have been weak

38
Q

how are near death experiences evidence of a conscious self after death

A
  • found in all cultures and religions
  • range of commonly occurring features
    • out of body experience
    • going through a tunnel towards a bright
      light
    • meeting deceased loved ones
    • feelings of immense peace or terror
    • coming to a point of no return
39
Q

what are weaknesses of seeing near death experiences as evidence of life after death

A
  • the individuals are not actually dead so do not provide evidence for life after death
  • the experiences are hallucinations caused by medications or by the brains release of endorphins
40
Q

what are strengths of near death experiences being seen as evidence of life after death

A
  • examples of people with no optic nerve reporting sightings can be quoted in support of their genuineness
  • the transformation of lives is evidence for the genuineness of the experience
41
Q

what is Parfit’s bundle theory

A
  • it sees continuity after death in terms of psychological connectedness
  • any influence people have in life continues after death as long as they are remembered
  • there is no such thing as a self: individuals are ‘bundles’ of ever changing states of being
42
Q

how do Parfit’s ideas link to Buddhism

A
  • buddhists believe that the ever changing combination of mental and physical energies occuring throughout this life is a process that continues after death
  • this suggests that the idea of some form of personal survival after death may be compatible with bundle theory
43
Q

what does dennett believe about the possibility of psychological continuity after death

A
  • functionalist
  • the human brain’s computer program consists of the experiences, memories and personality that form the narrative self
  • these could survive the death of the individual through having been stored on another platform, such as a computer
  • this stored information would be psychologically continuous with what went before
44
Q

weaknesses of Parfit’s and Dennetts theories

A
  • parfit – how can thoughts exist without a thinker. it is the self that holds together all the events in an individual’s life forms them into a connected narrative
  • both theories dismiss the idea of consciousness as the subjective experience of individuals
    • neuro science cannot explain qualia which are essentially subjective experiences

Philosophy of Religion (8 decks)

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