Chapter Six No Mental Life after Brain Death The Argument from the Neural Localization of Mental Functions Gualtiero Piccinini and Sonya Bahar In a thorough, rigorously argued chapter, Piccinini and Bahar outline their position as follows: To make our case, we will sample the large body of neuroscientific evidence that each mental function takes place … The Myth of an Afterlife ch 6

This is a pretty meaty essay, so I’d like to cover it over a few posts.  Today, I’d like to talk a bit about this passage here: “There are, to be sure, several much-discussed objections to materialism, but most of them question the notion that materialism can currently fully explain conscious experience. And even if … The Myth of an Afterlife, Chapter Five: The Argument from Brain Damage by Vindicated Rocco J. Gennaro and Yonatan I. Fishman

The Myth Of An Afterlife Chapter Four Dissolution into Death The Mind’s Last Symptoms Indicate Annihilation David Weisman From previous posts, I’d like to make a distinction between the causal understanding of the unconscious and the frame mode.  For instance, we might say some repressed trauma in my younger life is causing dysfunction at my present … The Myth of An Afterlife 8: Chapter 4 on Wasting Away

The Myth of an Afterlife post 7: Personality Chapter Three: (pg 69) Explaining Personality: Soul Theory versus Behavior Genetics By: Jean Mercer  As I mentioned in a previous post, the guiding perspective we inherited from the history of Philosophy is the issue of Being, which has traditionally been interpreted in terms of essentia or questioning … Blogging Through Augustine/Martin’s Anthology “The Myth of an Afterlife” part 7

Blog Post 6 on “The Myth of an Afterlife” The Myth of an Afterlife Chapter Two: Dead as a Doornail Souls, Brains, and Survival  by Matt McCormick Augustine summarizes that  In chapter 2, Matt McCormick presents a strong probabilistic case that human cognitive abilities, memories, personalities, thoughts, emotions, conscious awareness, and self-awareness are dependent upon the … Blogging Through Augustine/Martin’s Anthology “The Myth Of An Afterlife” Part 6

It is fascinating to think along with Bart Ehrman and the idea that Luke had a Moral Influence interpretation of the cross rather than a Paying Sin Debt interpretation. But what about Paul? Paul was the great hero of Luke’s work Acts. It seems that Luke had not read Paul’s letters nor seemed to be … Paul through the lens of Luke

I just wanted to conclude this small series of posts that began with movedness/presencing and provide a little ancient philosophical context. “Being” for the Greeks basically means “presence,” and so Plato says with the beautiful thing beauty is “present.”  Similarly, with the piece of chalk materiality is co-present.  Before I said presence means presencing, and … (Conclusion) The Godlessness Of The Philosophers: From Beginning To End

Last time I mentioned that: “Homer talks about the gods not appearing to everyone in their fullness (enargeis), with the example of Odysseus experiencing the full radiance of the goddess presencing through a woman, while the next person wasn’t experiencing her that way. Or, of a beautiful mansion we say “Now that’s a house!” though the next person … (2/2) The Godlessness Of The Philosophers: From Beginning To End

Protagoras was a proponent of either agnosticism or, as Tim Whitmarsh claims, atheism, on the grounds that since he held that if something is not able to be known it does not exist. This reflects my own position of theoretical agnosticism but pragmatic atheism, since life clearly does not seem to reflect the hand of … (1/2) The Godlessness Of The Philosophers: From Beginning To End