March 10 th, LIFE AFTER DEATH: THE NATURE OF DISEMBODIED EXISTENCE

 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. WHAT DOES DISEMBODIED MEAN?

 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 ARE DISEMBODIED EXISTENCES COHERENT?

 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. CONTINUED

 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 DISEMBODIED 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) EXAMPLES OF EMBODIED EXISTENCE THEORIES

 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. WHERE DOES JOHN HICK & REPLICA THEORY FIT HERE?