Summary of self, death and the afterlife - Philosophy

• Descartes argument for the existence of the soul

  • Descartes thinks that there are two essential substances: mind and matter.
  • Matter is res extensa and mind is res cognita.
  • Descartes argument from doubt: I can doubt that my body exists / but I cannot doubt that I am a thinking thing / therefore I am not identical with my body
  • Mechanical worldview: the world runs according to fixed laws of nature. He experimented on animals to study how the body worked. A beating heart is like a mechanical pump. The rational soul separates humans from animals
• Arguments against Descartes

  • The mind is produced by the brain, so brain and body are the same thing, so the brain cannot doubt its body’s existence.
  • Neuroscience shows that there is a close correlation between mind and brain. If the brain is damaged, the mind is damaged also, so to that extent it can be divided.
  • The idea of ’soul substance’ is a circular argument because it merely says: soul substance can think because soul exists as a thinking substance
  • Gilbert Ryle: category mistake. Descartes describes the soul as a separate being when it actually is part of us.
• The body/soul relationship

  • Descartes Interactionism: Descartes thought that body and soul interacted in the pineal gland but interactionism solves nothing: he says where it occurs but not how it happens
  • Materialism: body and soul are inseparable. The soul does not exist and once an individual dies they cease to exist. There is no personal existence in the afterlife.
  • Hard materialism: does not accept that an individuals characteristics are anything more than physical ones
  • Soft materialism: consciousness is more than a brain process. not all characteristics are physical
• Strengths of dualism

  • Religiously it is popular: having a soul that can survive death means that Christians can be judged by God and sent to heaven or hell
  • Evidence for dualism in accounts of NDE’s
  • You can doubt everything except that you think
• Materialist arguments 1/2

  • Dawkins: believes in biological materialism. According to him, religious beliefs are based upon myth and faith as there is no empirical evidence. The only purpose in life is DNA survival. Meme: the only part of us that lives on after death. Refers to cultural survival / footprint - peoples memories of us.
  • Sam Harris: the brain cannot survive without the physical body. If your brain was damaged, medically or brain loss, you would not suddenly gain your memories back in the afterlife. Questions the logic of some dualist arguments in the afterlife
• Materialist arguments 2/2


  Phineas Gage: not a materialist but supports the materialist argument. Had a physical accident but it impacted his brain as well - his personality drastically changed. Proves that Descartes argument of the mind and body being separate is incorrect because Gage’s mind was impacted by the injury
• The possibility of continuing personal existence after death 1/3

  Functionalist argument: Human immortality through human technology rather than God.

  John Hick: resurrection. replica theory to argue that God resurrects a replica of the human body-soul. A person disappears and reappears elsewhere, you would identify them through their memories. The same would apply if they died

  Plato: immortality of the soul through the argument of the opposites and world of forms. Plato’s core argument is that the soul is immaterial, unextended and simple.
• The possibility of continuing personal existence after death 2/3


  Reincarnation: accounts from those who believe they have experienced past life memories

  NDE’s: accounts of afterlife experiences that are not explainable by science

  Descartes: it is ‘me’ that survives death. We do not need our bodies to survive death, our personal identity is the most important part of us and that remains in the soul so only the soul goes to the afterlife.
• The possibility of continuing personal existence after death 3/3

  Jesus’ resurrection: Jesus was not resurrected at first but then the disciples slowly recognised him. Some believe he was physically resurrected but others say it was spiritual. Evidence for: eyewitness accounts, changed lives of disciples, women were first apostles

  Locke sameness of consciousness: our consciousness makes ’me’ me. It lives on (psychological continuity)

  Dawkins: meme is the only existence after death