Persons, Souls and Death
A Philosophical Investigation of an Afterlife
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About the Book
Awareness of mortality is the price of intelligent consciousness. This book argues that a person is essentially an immaterial subject of conscious states who, though intimately linked by causal ties to the body, is nevertheless distinct from it. The book also examines apparently paranormal occurrences supporting the belief that some persons have survived bodily death. Cases of near-death experiences, apparitions, reincarnation experiences and mediumship phenomena are presented and discussed. Though it might seem contrary to natural law for a person to exist apart from a body and properly functioning brain, these cases suggest otherwise. Critical evaluation of alternative interpretations is provided.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
David H. Lund
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 244
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2009
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3487-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5311-5
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Preface 1
INTRODUCTION 3
The Perennial Question 3
A Philosophical Approach 6
The Influence and Scope of Science 9
The Coherence of the Idea of Post-Mortem Existence 11
The Relevance of the Case for Theism 16
The Nature of Persons and the Laws of Nature 19
Part I: Persons, Bodies, and the Possibility of Post-Mortem Existence
THE CASE AGAINST POST-MORTEM EXISTENCE 23
Antecedent Probability of Extinction 23
Empirically-Grounded Support of Extinction 23
Theory-Based Arguments for Extinction 25
MINDS, SOULS AND PERSONS 29
Materialist-Reductionist Accounts of the Mental 29
Materialist Theories of Personal Identity 32
The Immateriality of the Mental 35
Psychological Theories of the Person 45
The Person as Subject of Conscious States 47
MENTAL-PHYSICAL RELATIONS 63
The Causality Problem 63
Mind-Brain Interaction 65
Causation Conceived as Reducible 67
Causation Conceived as Irreducible 69
Deep Causation 70
The Directionality of Causation 71
Intentional Causation 71
Dualistic Causation and the Causal Closure Hypothesis 74
Mental-Mental Causation 76
Paranormal Causation 78
The Causal Independence of the Conscious Self 83
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS SUPPORTIVE OF POST-MORTEM EXISTENCE 90
Theism and Revelation Accounts 90
The Deep Unity of the Self 92
Non-Intentional Consciousness and the Self 96
Part II. Ostensible Evidence of Post-Mortem Existence
OUR INVESTIGATION SO FAR 101
NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES 104
Death-Bed Visions 104
Non-Terminal Near-Death Experiences 108
Naturalistic Explanation of NDEs 112
Paranormal Theories: ESP and Super-ESP 118
APPARITIONS 129
Reciprocal Apparitions 132
The Naturalistic Interpretation 135
Paranormal Interpretations of Apparitions of the Dead 136
Collective and Iterative Apparitional Experiences 137
The Super-Psi Hypothesis 142
The Telepathic Theory 144
The Objectivist Theory 146
The Survivalist Explanation 151
REINCARNATION 153
Reincarnation vs. Possession Interpretations 154
Cases of Responsive Xenoglossy 156
Spontaneous Recall of Ostensible Former Lives 159
The Shanti Devi Case 161
The Case of Jasbir Jat 162
The Case of Swarnlata Mishra 163
Naturalistic Explanations 167
The Fraud Hypothesis 167
Cryptomnesia 168
Paramnesia 169
Inherited Memory 170
Paranormal Explanations 170
The Psi Hypothesis 171
ESP Plus Impersonation 173
Reincarnation and Survival 177
Reincarnation and the Subject of Conscious States 178
MENTAL MEDIUMSHIP 181
The Mediumship of Mrs. Piper 182
Mrs. Willett’s Mediumship 189
Proxy Sittings 194
“Drop-In” Communicators 195
The Cross-Correspondences 199
CONCLUSION: ASSESSMENT OF THE CASE FOR POST-MORTEM EXISTENCE 204
Overview of Our Investigation into the Essence of Persons 204
Dispositions and the Self 207
Sensory Experience in an Afterworld 208
Discarnate Communication 210
The Significance of the Ostensible Evidence of Survival 211
Super-Psi or Survival? 212
The Balance of Probabilities 215
Chapter Notes 219
Bibliography 227
Index 231
