Philosophy and the Belief in a Life after Death

Philosophy and the Belief in a Life after Death PDF Author: R. Paterson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230389880
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
This book critically examines the case for and against the belief in personal survival of bodily death. It discusses key philosophical questions. How could a discarnate individual be identified as a person who was once alive? What is the relationship between minds and their brains? Is a 'next world' conceivable? The book also examines classic arguments for the immortality of the soul, and focuses on types of prima facie evidence of survival: near-death experiences, apparitions, mediumistic communications, and ostensible reincarnation cases.

Philosophy and the Belief in a Life after Death

Philosophy and the Belief in a Life after Death PDF Author: R. Paterson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230389880
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book critically examines the case for and against the belief in personal survival of bodily death. It discusses key philosophical questions. How could a discarnate individual be identified as a person who was once alive? What is the relationship between minds and their brains? Is a 'next world' conceivable? The book also examines classic arguments for the immortality of the soul, and focuses on types of prima facie evidence of survival: near-death experiences, apparitions, mediumistic communications, and ostensible reincarnation cases.

Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction

Philosophy of Religion: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Tim Bayne
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191071161
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
What is the philosophy of religion? How can we distinguish it from theology on the one hand and the psychology/sociology of religious belief on the other? What does it mean to describe God as 'eternal'? And should religious people want there to be good arguments for the existence of God, or is religious belief only authentic in the absence of these good arguments? In this Very Short Introduction Tim Bayne introduces the field of philosophy of religion, and engages with some of the most burning questions that philosophers discuss. Considering how 'religion' should be defined, and whether we even need to be able to define it in order to engage in the philosophy of religion, he goes on to discuss whether the existence of God matters. Exploring the problem of evil, Bayne also debates the connection between faith and reason, and the related question of what role reason should play in religious contexts. Shedding light on the relationship between science and religion, Bayne finishes by considering the topics of reincarnation and the afterlife. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The Myth of an Afterlife

The Myth of an Afterlife PDF Author: Michael Martin
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0810886782
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 709

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Book Description
Because every single one of us will die, most of us would like to know what—if anything—awaits us afterward, not to mention the fate of lost loved ones. Given the nearly universal vested interest in deciding this question in favor of an afterlife, it is no surprise that the vast majority of books on the topic affirm the reality of life after death without a backward glance. But the evidence of our senses and the ever-gaining strength of scientific evidence strongly suggest otherwise. In The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life after Death, Michael Martin and Keith Augustine collect a series of contributions that redress this imbalance in the literature by providing a strong, comprehensive, and up-to-date casebook of the chief arguments against an afterlife. Divided into four separate sections, this collection opens with a broad overview of the issues, as contributors consider the strongest evidence of whether or not we survive death—in particular the biological basis of all mental states and their grounding in brain activity that ceases to function at death. Next, contributors consider a host of conceptual and empirical difficulties that confront the various ways of “surviving” death—from bodiless minds to bodily resurrection to any form of posthumous survival. Then essayists turn to internal inconsistencies between traditional theological conceptions of an afterlife—heaven, hell, karmic rebirth—and widely held ethical principles central to the belief systems supporting those notions. In the final section, authors offer critical evaluations of the main types of evidence for an afterlife. Fully interdisciplinary, The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life after Death brings together a variety of fields of research to make that case, including cognitiveneuroscience, philosophy of mind, personal identity, philosophy of religion, moralphilosophy, psychical research, and anomalistic psychology. As the definitive casebookof arguments against life after death, this collection is required reading for anyinstructor, researcher, and student of philosophy, religious studies, or theology. It issure to raise provocative issues new to readers, regardless of background, from thosewho believe fervently in the reality of an afterlife to those who do not or are undecidedon the matter.

Death and the Afterlife

Death and the Afterlife PDF Author: Samuel Scheffler
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019998252X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Suppose you knew that, though you yourself would live your life to its natural end, the earth and all its inhabitants would be destroyed thirty days after your death. To what extent would you remain committed to your current projects and plans? Would scientists still search for a cure for cancer? Would couples still want children? In Death and the Afterlife, philosopher Samuel Scheffler poses this thought experiment in order to show that the continued life of the human race after our deaths--the "afterlife" of the title--matters to us to an astonishing and previously neglected degree. Indeed, Scheffler shows that, in certain important respects, the future existence of people who are as yet unborn matters more to us than our own continued existence and the continued existence of those we love. Without the expectation that humanity has a future, many of the things that now matter to us would cease to do so. By contrast, the prospect of our own deaths does little to undermine our confidence in the value of our activities. Despite the terror we may feel when contemplating our deaths, the prospect of humanity's imminent extinction would pose a far greater threat to our ability to lead lives of wholehearted engagement. Scheffler further demonstrates that, although we are not unreasonable to fear death, personal immortality, like the imminent extinction of humanity, would also undermine our confidence in the values we hold dear. His arresting conclusion is that, in order for us to lead value-laden lives, what is necessary is that we ourselves should die and that others should live. Death and the Afterlife concludes with commentary by four distinguished philosophers--Harry Frankfurt, Niko Kolodny, Seana Shiffrin, and Susan Wolf--who discuss Scheffler's ideas with insight and imagination. Scheffler adds a final reply.

Life After Death

Life After Death PDF Author: Dinesh D'Souza
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
ISBN: 1596980990
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Drawing on some of the most powerful theories and trends in physics, biology, philosophy, and psychology, D'Souza concludes that belief in life after deathoffers depth and significance to this life.

Christian Beliefs about Life after Death

Christian Beliefs about Life after Death PDF Author: Paul Badham
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349030139
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description


Life After Death

Life After Death PDF Author: Deepak Chopra
Publisher: Harmony
ISBN: 0307345785
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Deepak Chopra turns to the most profound mystery confronting humankind: What happens after we die? By marrying science and wisdom, Chopra builds his case for afterlife, in which one's most essential self uses the end of life to "pass over" into the next lifetime.

A Critical Examination of the Belief in a Life After Death

A Critical Examination of the Belief in a Life After Death PDF Author: Curt John Ducasse
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780758131317
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description


Meaning and Mortality in Kierkegaard and Heidegger

Meaning and Mortality in Kierkegaard and Heidegger PDF Author: Adam Buben
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810132524
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
Death is one of those few topics that attract the attention of just about every significant thinker in the history of Western philosophy, and this attention has resulted in diverse and complex views on death and what comes after. In Meaning and Mortality, Adam Buben offers a remarkably useful new framework for understanding the ways in which philosophy has discussed death by focusing first on two traditional strains in the discussion, the Platonic and the Epicurean. After providing a thorough account of this ancient dichotomy, he describes the development of an alternative means of handling death in Søren Kierkegaard and Martin Heidegger, whose work on death tends to overshadow Kierkegaard's despite the undeniable influence exerted on him by the nineteenth-century Dane. Buben argues that Kierkegaard and Heidegger prescribe a peculiar way of living with death that offers a kind of compromise between the Platonic and the Epicurean strains.

Death and Immortality in Ancient Philosophy

Death and Immortality in Ancient Philosophy PDF Author: Alex Long
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107086590
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Provides an accessible account of the variety and subtlety of Greek and Roman philosophy of death, from Homer to Marcus Aurelius.