Unit 6 Flashcards
(35 cards)
1
Q
Dualism
A
Humans are a combination of 2 different aspects; the mind and body
2
Q
Substance dualism
A
Humans are made of a combination of two substances; the mind and body are different substances
3
Q
Monism
A
Humans are not made up of to different aspects, but rather one
4
Q
Materialism
A
Humans are made of one substance which is the same regardless of whether or not one is discussing mind and body
5
Q
Platos view on the soul
A
- the soul was a simple substance with no parts and was indestructible
- in his early dialogue (Phaedo) conflict is between soul and body not between different parts of the soul
- the soul consists of 3 elements: REASON (the higher soul), APPETITES (the lower soul) and WILL/SPIRIT that ideally should always side with reason
6
Q
Platos analogy of the charioteer
A
- used to help us understand the different parts of the soul
- obedient white horse = will
-unruly dark horse = appetites that need reining it - the charioteer = reason
7
Q
Platos theory of opposites
A
- argues that every quality comes into being from its own opposite, or at least depends on its opposite e.g. something is big because there are smaller things
- therefore life and death are existent opposites, and since the body is mortal and subject to physical death, the soul must exist as an indestructible opposite
8
Q
Platos theory of recollection
A
- the soul comes into this world with knowledge gained from a previous life in a DISEMBODIED STATE e.g. example of a slave boy with knowledge of mathematical proofs
- plato concluded that our soul, which is immortal and eternal, must have inhabited a realm of ideas (the world of forms) before our birth, and still years to return to that realm after death as it is our true home
- so when we see variations of the forms in this world we recognise them through this process of recollection, or as plato puts it ‘what we call learning is only a process of recollection’
9
Q
Aristotle’s view on life after death
A
- there is a soul that is closely united with the body
- rejects the materialist view as it doesn’t do justice to the formal (essence of an object) and final (telos of an object) causes which animates the soul.
- reject platos view of the form as it doesn’t do justice to sense experience
- when the body dies so does the soul
10
Q
Artistotles analogy of the wax tablet and stamp impressed on it
A
The shape made by the wax is inseparable from the wax just as a soul is inseparable from the person
11
Q
Descartes opinion on life after death
A
- the body is spatial and non-conscious whilst the mind is non-spatial but conscious, with feelings, thoughts etc.
- the mind and body are separate but interact
- a SUBSTANCE DUALIST
- he argued he could think away every aspect of himself except the act of thought itself, that he must be thought (i think therefore i am)
- the body is something controlled by the mind and external to it
- the body is machine-like with muscles as pulleys
12
Q
Gilbert Ryle
A
- “ghost in the machine” used to refer to Descartes’ view on the mind/body
- he criticises the idea that mind is distinct from the body
- to refer to the mind and body as substances is a ‘CATEGORY MISTAKE’, substance from the body . It is wrong to categorise the mind as a separate substance
13
Q
Life after death: resurrection
A
- best known example is Jesus within the Christian faith -> bodily resurrection, the belief that the physical body will be resurrected by god
- for catholics and most traditional believers, all will be resurrected on judgement day and those destined for heaven will have resurrected bodies
Key differences:
Immortal, impassible (no suffering), degrees of glory, ruled by the soul
14
Q
Hicks replica theory
A
- a thought experiment posited by hick about the afterlife, he argues we cannot conceive of an individual without a body. Therefore in the afterlife there must be a body
- uses three different scenarios regarding the death of john smith and replicas of this man appearing with the same DNA, memories etc.
- he poses the question in each scenario as to whether or not we would accept this new replica as being john smith
15
Q
Strengths of hicks replica theory
A
- fits well with his soul-making theodicy
- by stipulating only one replica at a time hick avoids the potential issue if obvious dualism within identity which would have resulted in a paradox
16
Q
Criticism of hicks replica theory
A
- vardy argues a copy of something is not as valuable as the original
- Brian Davies stipulates that the argument does little to offer comfort
17
Q
Reincarnation (Hinduism perspective)
A
- in Hinduism, the scriptures have teachings on reincarnation, life is a CONTINUOUS CHAIN of life and death known as SAMSARA
- the soul (atman) itself is independent of the body, the body can perish and is subject to change, whereas the atman is immutable
- karma, good and bad actions accumulate over many lifecycles and if enough good karma is achieved, the atman will eventuallly achieve moksha - freedom from the cycle
18
Q
Evidence of an afterlife (Hinduism)
A
Deja vu
The boy who lived before
19
Q
Criticisms of life after death
A
Lack of verifiable evidence
20
Q
Rebirth
A
- upon death, the mind and body is given a new body and is born again, possibly in this world or another realm - no aspect of the previous being is transferred to the new one
- the end of the cycle of rebirth is known as nirvana, one must fully understand the nature of suffering, impermanence and no-soul - the 3 marks of existence
- there is no self in Buddhism, no soul, life is constantly changing and it is your mental processes that continue into the next life carrying impressions from this one
21
Q
Criticisms of rebirth
A
If there isn’t a soul how is continuity from the old life to the new life possible
22
Q
NDE’s
A
- the experience of a large number of individuals who have experienced death or come very close to dying, they claim to have experienced something beyond the grave and testify to this fact
23
Q
Raymond moody
A
- identified 9 features of an NDE including:
Out of body experience
The tunnel
A life review
Peace
A light
24
Q
Alternative explanations to NDE’s
A
- anaesthetics
- hypoxia
- temporal lobe epilepsy
25
The scientific method
- the most popular method of ascertaining evidence or truth within modern society and the scientific community, which involves:
- observation
- hypothesis
- experiment
- conclusion
26
Big bang theory
Most commonly accepted theory about the origin of the world in science
The theory that posits that the universe began with a singular event from which the matter within the world was created and continues to expand in the universe
27
Cosmological constant
The density of the energy within the universe
28
Steady state theory
Believes the density of the matter of the world does not change as it is continually being created
The same density of matter in the universe will remain constant
29
Evolution
- Charles Darwin
- complexity of nature
- posits that species underwent small genetic mutations which adapted them to their environments, eventually breeding these into the whole species, known as natural selection
30
Dawkins
- religion is harmful and no longer necessary as science has given sufficient explanation for the origin of the world
31
The Gaia hypothesis
- a revival of paganism that rejects Christianity, considers Christianity its biggest enemy and view the Christian faith as its only obstacle to a global religion centred on Gaia worship and the uniting of all life forms around the goddess of ‘mother earth’
- world able to sustain itself
32
Creationism
Christians believe in a literal interpretation of the account of creation in the bible found in genesis 1-3.
Two types of creationists: young vs old
33
Irreducible complexity
Many Christian’s accept evolution and believe that it is part of gods intelligent design of the world
Many Christian’s accept the Big Bang theory as it posits the creation of the universe as taking place within a singular event, which fits with genesis narratives
34
Miracles (Swinburne + aquinas)
- defined by Swinburne as being impossible events that break the laws of nature, there are a variety within the bible, aquinas classifies miracles as events which could only happen when god moves outside the laws of nature
They are improbable
35
Hume on miracles
Critiques account of miracles and argues they are never witnessed by sufficient people with sufficient sense, he also argues that they are often witnessed by religious believers whose accounts are considered to be biased and therefore less reliable
