LIFE AFTER DEATH THE NATURE OF DISEMBODIED EXISTENCE

LIFE AFTER DEATH: THE NATURE OF DISEMBODIED EXISTENCE March 10 t h , 2014.

WHAT DOES DISEMBODIED MEAN? Disembodied Existence refers to life after death without a physical form. Where Reincarnation and Resurrection involve living in a “new” body, Disembodied Existence alludes to survival after death without bodies. A disembodied existence shows a separation between the soul and the body, treating them as two different things. Simply put, Disembodied Existence means living without physical form.

ARE DISEMBODIED EXISTENCES COHERENT? Richard Swinburne: We can imagine a situation where we could exist without a body, and if we can imagine it, then it is a coherent concept. We have an intuitive sense of being not the same as our bodies We say that we have bodies, as opposed to we are bodies § This suggests that we feel ourselves to be separate and distinct from the purely physical Because there is a distinction between the consciousness and the body, we can have mental processes and events which are not translated into anything physical at all § We might be thinking all kinds of things without any evidence of them appearing on our face or in our body language

CONTINUED To some, it seems as if the consciousness and the body, although linked, are distinct from one another § Therefore, it could make sense to suggest that the consciousness might be able to exist on its own, without the body, once the body has died. Note: Careful when using Reincarnation as an example of Disembodied existence. Technically, Reincarnation means that you are reborn into a new body. It wouldn’t typically count for an example or support to a disembodied existence.

EXAMPLES OF DISEMBODIED EXISTENCE THEORIES Plato (Tripartite Theory, Soul exists before & after death) Descartes (Mind/Body Problem) Richard Swinburne (Uniqueness & Evolution of the Soul) Keith Ward (The Soul as a form of Morality and Spirit) Immanuel Kant § Although he does not deny that the soul can exist apart from the body, in 1755 Kant insists that disembodied souls cannot have human cognition. § Our souls cannot operate effectively if they do not interact with healthy, well-trained bodies. Whatever existence our souls have after the death of our body, they cannot have knowledge or experience of the sort we possess in our lifetimes H. H Price (Dream World) Raymond Moody (Near Death Experiences)

EXAMPLES OF EMBODIED EXISTENCE THEORIES “Embodied Existence” refers to the soul/mind and body being one. If the body dies, the soul dies with it, but there is still potential for Life after death in physical form. Aristotle (The Wax Tablet with a Stamp) Richard Dawkins (Humans = vehicles of genes, survival machines) Hindus (Rebirth/Reincarnation; Body is a vehicle for the atman) Buddhist (Reincarnation; Soullessness, no God, no essential individual self) Judaism (Resurrection; bodies rising from the dead) Islam (Resurrection; earthly life is a test for LAD) Christianity (Resurrection; day of judgement)

WHERE DOES JOHN HICK & REPLICA THEORY FIT HERE? Hick believes that the body and soul are inseparable. § Therefore, if there is LAD for the soul, the body has to be resurrected. Feels that it is logically possible for people to exist in different worlds with the same identity § They could be “replicated” on to the new world by God § The world of the resurrected is not spatially related to our world, but objects within it are spatially related to each other Traditionally, John Hick’s view could be classified as a resurrection. However, when you argue that the “replica” is not the same person, this can be classified as a reincarnation, as the essence of the person is placed into another body. § Still, his view is an embodied existence.