Summary of Philosophy Unit 6 - Influences and developments in religious belief, including:
6.1 - Views about Life After Death Across a Range of Religious Traditions
Immortality of the soul: soul as non-physical and spiritual and con tinuing to exist a2er death of body, Rebirth: belief there is ...
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6 - InCuences and Developments in Religious Belief
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6.1 - Views about Life A7er Death Across a Range of Religious Tradi)ons
Immortality of the soul: soul as non-physical and spiritual and con
nuing to exist a2er death
of body
The immorality of the soul is the view that the soul is a non-physical and spiritual en
ty which means
that life a2er death is possible, as the soul lives on a2er the body dies. Any ac
vity would be of a
paranormal sort as the soul is divorced from the func
oning brain and physical senses. Swinburne
argued that this theory was completely possible and coherent, as one could imagine a situa
on where
one could live without a body, and if one can imagine it then it is a coherent concept, however Davies
argues that just because one can conceive themselves being disembodied, it doesn't make it an actual
possibility.
Rebirth: belief there is no unchanging soul and importance of karma
Rebirth is the Buddhist cycle of death and rebirth called samsara. Life simply changes form
and death and con
nues with new life. Only when one has followed the eighQold path to
become an arhat is there an escape from rebirth, where one passes into nirvana and the
wheel of life collapses. Buddha rejected the concept of the soul – a person simply comprises
of interac
ng mental and physical processes and is therefore physical ma8er, thoughts and
feelings. There is no overall personal iden
ty which is transferred from one life to the next.
Through good ac
ons such as ethical conduct and developing concentra
on and wisdom,
Buddhists hope to either gain enlightenment or ensure a be8er future for themselves – good
ac
ons result in be8er rebirth and bad ac
ons result in worse rebirth, known as karma.
Reincarna
on: transmigra
on of souls and importance of karma
Reincarna
on is the transmigra
on of the soul from body to body. It involves the idea that
one has lived before and one may live again. The soul is eternal and lives in many di/erent
bodies. For believers in reincarna
on, humanity has forgo8en their essen
al unity or iden
ty
with the nondual and wrongly believes they are dis
nct from it, they are caught in a cycle of
su/ering. Hindus believe that the supreme reality is in every person, called the Atman, which
is in+nite and cannot be destroyed, so that when the body dies the Atman lives on. The
ul
mate goal is for Hindus to escape this cycle and achieve Moksha, which can be achieved
through medita
on and ensuring that each rebirth takes the soul to a be8er life. Hindus
believe that a reincarnated soul does not carry personal quali
es from one life to the next.
Karma determines the condi
ons of the next life.
Replica theory: no
on that one can die in one body and con
nue to live in a di/erent body
while being the same person, including a2er death
Hick developed the replica theory in order to show that resurrec
on is a logically possible
theory. He argues that it is logically possible for there to exist a separate world populated by
resurrected persons who are brought back to life by God, who is an omnipotent being who
would be able to do this. Within this theory, a replica of each person is placed in their
idealised state in a world which is not spa
ally consistent with Earth. The dead body s
ll
exists, but this version of the person is no longer them, the actual person is no longer on
Earth.
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