Life is such a
gift 75(odd)
years can't be
the end
Against Life After Death
It wouldn't
be fair- why
reward some
but punish
others
A 'life' after 'death'
- that doesn't make
sense!
There is no
God, let
alone a
heaven
We are simply
material/physical
beings
There is
no proof or
evidence
Reincarnation
Bhagavad Gita 2, 13
"Just as a person
casts off worn out
garments and puts on
others which are new,
even so does the
embodied soul cast
off worn out bodies
and takes on others
that are new"
Hinduism and Sikhism NOT Buddhism
The Body will die but the
Soul is eternal
Key Terms For Reincarnation
Karma
Good and Bad
actions
A law of Moral Causation
Samsara
Cycle of Life and
Death
Dharma
duty of
each
caste
Varnahramadharma
Moksha
End of the cycle of Life and Death
Brahman
God
Atman
Soul
May
an illusion
Those who see
the world as it
really is
Strengths and Weaknesses of Reincarnation
Strengths of Reincarnation
Encourages to live
a moral life to
achieve moral life
Gives people
hope for a (better)
life. No Finality to
death
Second Chance after death
Explains why the body stays on earth
Regression under hypnosis
Yoga memory
The experience of people,
usually children who claim to
have memories of a previous
life
Weaknesses of Reincarnation
Moral Blackmail
Regression
under hypnosis
Set Up
No Proof
based on dualism
How do you
enter the
cycle of
Samsara?
Souls move
up from
plants/animals
Where do souls come from?
Evolution from
Samsara might
take 1000's of
years
Why is the population increasing?
Based on Caste system
Rebirth
Buddhist
Belief that after death your
thoughts/conciousness/personality(?)
will get reborn into a new body
Key Terms for Rebirth
Anatta
no essential self or soul
(true selfhood is an illusion)
Anicca
Everything including
conscious life is
forever changing
not the same as it was
(ever changing)
Candle
Analogy
Samsara
a Constant cycle
of rebirth
not set by
any God
Karma
Process of rebirth is
governed by Karma
(good and bad actions)
Nirvana
Enlightenment
Ultimately, Buddists
aspire to escape
from Samsara by
recognition of the
ullusion, thus
reaching
enlightenment
Strengths and Weaknesses or Rebirth
Strenghts
A Buddhist
would be
responsible
for
whathappens
in their next
life
Relies on self as there is no God
Instead of relying on blind faith
Resolves
Reincarnation of
Adult Soul going
to a child
No Reincarnation problem of caste
Regression under hypnosis
Doesn't rely on God
Weaknesses
No proof
No incentive to ethical life as the
consciousness does not relate to
the person
No guarantee of a better life
Regression
under hypnosis
Set Up
Your soul doesn't go on as there is no soul
Resurrection
Resureection
is the promise that
your soul will leave
your body after you
die and go onto your
next life
is Eschatological
concerned with life after death
Pascals Wager
You can't know if God exists
until you die. So its best to
say you believe in him just in
case
body and soul combined
Strengths and Weaknesses of Resurrection
Strengths
Bible
Resurrection came a
bout so as to comfort
Jews in hard times with
the hope of a better next
life
Jesus was resurrected
Testified in all four gospels
Valley of Dry Bones
Ezekiel37- God
shows Ezekiel a
valley of Dry Bones
and states that he is
able to "make these
live again"
6th century BC
Sheep and the Goats Parable
Jesus describes
heaven like a
house and he's
gone to prepare a
room for you
Hope for the next life
Encourages people to
leave a moral next life so
as to avoid Hell
Shown in Islam, Judasim and Christianity
John Hick
Replica Body Theory
You get the
same body you
did on earth,
logically
possible so we
can regognise
people in heaven
Weaknesses
No Proof
No empirical evidence
No definitive version of the afterlife across religions
Definite failure for Athiests
as there is no 'proof' outside
of religious texts
the physical body cannot be resurrected, proof on earth
Against John Hick
Replica Body Theory
not factually possible due to space in heaven
How do people from years ago recognise you now, physical changes
Imperfections, do they carry on into the afterlife
Immortality of the Soul
Belief that the soul is a distinct
and immortal entity within (dualism)
which can survive the death of the
body and ascend to the after life
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Plato
1.Cyclical
Everything which comes with life must go out
Cycle of Birth and Death/ Pattern of Birth and Death
2. Recollection
the knowledge we have is not learned but remembered
Soul exists before coming into body
everything is remembered from what the soul has learned from before
3. Affinity
The Soul is Simple
The body has an affinity with Earth
The Soul has an
affinity with eternal
realm of forms. After
the body dies this is
where the soul goes
4. Final
The Soul cannot be destroyed so it must
retreat to the realms
Socrates
Life
cannot
emerge
from a
dead thing
"The soul is
which
renders the
body living"
Descartes
"I think therefore I am."
The Soul
joins with God
at Death is
comforting
Certain
religious
expereinces
support this
(Out of body)
Our thinking
trancends the
physical body, then
immortality of the
soul, makes good
sense
Experiement
Weight before and after death (lighter)
The idea
has been
around for
centuries
dualism
Weaknesses
Gilbert Ryle
The Ghost in the Machine
Ghost= Soul
You cannot
prove it as you
cannot see
Souls just like
you cannot see
ghosts
Machine+ Body
Modern Neuroscience
the mind is a product of
brain function, not part of
soul
You can see brain
function not soul (MRI
etc)
Against Descartes
Descartes proved that we think,
but that is different from proving
our thinking exists independently
Against PLato
Affinity
we have to be
taught
somethings- even
the best artists
had to be taught
how to hold a
pencil
Western Religions
Muslims.
Jews and
Christians
should
reject it as
it is against
traditional
religious
teaching