LIFE AFTER DEATH

Get ahead of the game: This topic will take us to the end of the term. You have 12 tasks and an essay to write before the end of September. The readings are all in the Library and on the blog. 2

LESSON 1: WHO ARE YOU? 3 Lesson 1: Evaluate: Who YOU are? The main themes around Life after Death The existence of a ‘soul’

WHO are you? Read the stimulus sheet and answer the following questions: 1.Have "you" survived the brain transplant? If so, have you survived death? 2.What does the stimulus suggest about what it means to survive death? What is your response to this? 3.Are you now Maria, or are you the "original" you, or both? What does the stimulus suggest about what it is to be a person? What is your response to this? 4.Do you have any other questions/comments in response to the stimulus? 4

Basic questions…. Discuss in your groups the following phrases. What do they mean? Soul Body Resurrection Reincarnation Life after death 5

Epicurus ‘Death, the most dreaded of evils, is… of no concern to us, for while we exist death is not present, and when death is present, we no longer exist’ 6 Why does death matter?

More basic questions… 1.How do you know who you are? 2.How do other people recognise you as you? 3.Are you the same person today as yesterday? 4.Will you be the same person tomorrow morning as today? 5.What is your mind? Is it different to your brain? 6.Are you: a.Your mind? b.Your body? c.Something else?

Do we have souls? To answer this you must first decide which view to hold on the mind-body issue:  MATERIALISM or MONISM:  MATERIALISM or MONISM: The belief that human beings are a single unity of body and mind. The minds existence is dependent upon the body  DUALISM:  DUALISM: The belief that a human person consists of two distinct elements: the mind/soul and the body. The mind/soul is immaterial whereas the body is physical.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and find security has been tightened due to the escape of a known criminal, Sirius Black. The grounds are now being guarded by dementors, dark, sinister beings that drain people of their souls

"You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no...anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just -- exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever...lost."—Remus Lupin on the Dementor's KissRemus Lupin on the Dementor's Kiss "You can exist without your soul, you know, as long as your brain and heart are still working. But you'll have no sense of self anymore, no memory, no...anything. There's no chance at all of recovery. You'll just -- exist. As an empty shell. And your soul is gone forever...lost."—Remus Lupin on the Dementor's KissRemus Lupin on the Dementor's Kiss IrII

I’ve got soul... Is this a monist or dualist attitude to soul? Do you believe we have a soul?

How can we survive death? MaterialistsMaterialists who accept life after death would require the resurrection of the body, which is probably a replica body (Hick). DualistsDualists who accept the immortality of the soul would consider it is the soul continues after the body dies (Descartes).

Plenary Who in the class have you agreed most with today? Why? Who have you disagreed most with? Why? 13