The belief in life after death is not a new concept because this issue has affected most societies throughout time. The main reason this question arises is because death is an inevitable consequence of life for us all. Although it is difficult to determine what exactly happens after we die, I do believe in life after death because of certain reasons and evidences that I have stumbled upon.
Concerning Western tradition, Socrates is one of the most celebrated philosophers of his time. Like many people, Socrates supported life after death, believing that “there is something in [us] that is indestructible” (Rachels 39). He also believed that we benefit when we die, as our soul finally departs from the body because he felt that “the body is a hindrance to the pursuit of truth” (Rachels 38). However, Socrates’ views about life after death were quite different than many of the religious principles that are celebrated throughout the world. For instance, Hinduism supports rebirth, where the status is determined by karma, which is understood as “moral consequences that are carried along with every act” (Molloy 87). Likewise, Buddhism supports a similar concept; however, it does reject “the notion of a soul (an unchanging spiritual reality)” (Molloy 138). In difference, Christianity supports the belief that “God will bring us back to life” (Rachels 39). There also happens to be people who do not support any religion or concepts of life after death.
Because of the many conflicting religious beliefs, I happen to support Socrates’ view that life after death is “independent of religion” (Rachels 38); however, I do have my own reasons for supporting this view. For instance, some of what led me to believe in life after death is fueled by certain near-death experiences (NDEs) that prove to be valid due to unexplainable occurrences that have affected certain people who have nearly died. Although there are many invalid claims of NDEs—as we have seen on television—many accounts, made by people of various religions, races, and regions—especially children and the visually blind seem to validate the concept of life after death.
Children prove to be excellent case studies because unlike adults, their claims are less likely to be influenced “by preexisting cultural influences, beliefs, or life experiences” (Long, chapter 9). Also, children tend to have less developed views, experience, and knowledge about death than most adults. In one case study examined by Dr. Jeffery Long, an eleven year-old girl named Jennifer encountered a NDE after she was in a serious car accident—her account is unbelievable, yet valid. She claimed to have seen her lifeless body from above, which is a common occurrence for adults that have NDEs. Jennifer claims that a voice instructed her to go back into her body and assist a man who was bleeding severely. The voice encouraged her to recover the man’s severed nose by telling her the location of it, and then she was instructed to place it back onto his face and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Then she was told that help would find her along a specific part of a road, someone who would take them to the nearest hospital. As a result of her actions, the man’s life was saved and “a skin graft was used to reattach the nose with ‘barely a scratch left to notice” (Long, chapter 9). Another aspect that makes the NDEs of children unique is that in a transformation study, one doctor concluded that NDEs cause certain changes in children that can’t be fabricated. For instance, children with NDEs “had less death anxiety than the non-NDE population; they also had increased psychic abilities, a higher zest for life, and increased intelligence” (Long, chapter 9).
Likewise, some accounts of the NDEs that blind people have encountered also help support life after death. In one case, a woman named Vicki who had been blind since birth had a NDE after a car accident. She claimed to have witnessed medical staff attempting to save her when she flat-lined; however, at first she was unsure if the person she was hovering over was actually her, because she had never visually seen what she looked like before. Although she had been blind all of her life, Vicki can describe vivid visual details, such as “visiting a beautiful unearthly realm, encountering deceased friends, and a life review” (Long, chapter 5). Vicki’s NDE enabled her to see light and colors—things she never had the ability to experience before. One factor that suggests that Vicki’s visual encounter was not a bodily experience is that she “was immediately aware of her visual perceptions” (Long, chapter 5), whereas people who have been blind all their lives that eventually gain sight due to corrective surgery “have trouble making sense of visual perceptions” (Long, chapter 5). Consequently, people who have always been blind never experience visual dreams; their sense of experience relies on touching, tasting, smelling, and hearing. Furthermore, some people who lost their sight later in life also claim to see things such as bright lights and medical staff working on them. Additionally, even visually challenged individuals that have extremely poor vision often report seeing things clearly in high definition during their NDE.
Naturally, skeptics fuel many arguments that denote some of the claims that people make about NDEs and out-of-body experiences by pointing out other possibilities that can cause people to ‘think’ they experience signs of life after death. For instance, scientific researchers figured out that they can stimulate a certain part of the brain in order to induce out-of-body experiences; therefore, some experiences could possibly be caused by a specific type of brain injury. Skeptics might also point out that a drug, such as “ketamine, which is sometimes used as an anesthetic, produces all the features of near-death experiences” (Rachels 43). Furthermore, hallucinations that happen to be stimulated by certain drugs are also known to reveal similar aspects relating to what many people with NDE claim. Hallucinations can also be triggered because of lack of oxygen, which happens to occur when the heart stops. Perhaps one of the most valid arguments explaining NDEs involve rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is a hallucinatory phase of sleeping which “neurologist Kevin Nelson believes that near-death experiences are manifestations of” (Rachels 44). REM sleep is caused by the trauma that people who nearly die experience; therefore, the vivid out-of-body visions that people sometimes see can be fueled by “sleep paralysis; and the tunnel and the light are due in part to the loss of blood to the retina” (Rachels 44).
Although there are some plausible justifications that can scientifically explain the reasoning as to why so many people with NDEs are led to believe in life after death, they cannot possibly explain all experiences, especially Jennifer’s and Vicki’s occurrences. As an example, it does not make sense to assume that such aspects as a brain injury, drugs, lack of oxygen, or REM sleep caused a blind person, such as Vicki—who has never had the ability to visually see anything—to experience sight when she nearly died. It also seems absurd to support those notions involving Jennifer’s case because since she was in a sudden car accident, she was not under the influence of drugs. She did, however, experience trauma and suffered physical injuries. She also may have even been deprived of oxygen, although that has never been determined. However, the one aspect about Jennifer’s case that makes all of those possible theories seem invalid is the fact that after she hovered over her own body, she was instructed by a voice to return to her body and to perform very particular tasks that she would not have known how to do on her own accord, especially while severely injured and in shock.
A ‘soul’ is often defined as “the immaterial essence of an individual life” (Merriam-Webster’s 1192), which is quite similar to Socrates’ understanding of it. However, Socrates believed the soul is comprised of a nonphysical “part of you that perceives, thinks, and feels [that] never dies” (Rachels 38), which is why some of my views differ from his. I happen to believe that the soul or life after death in other words, could possibly represent a different notion: that our soul might not be comprised of our insights, ideas and emotions—it could represent our everlasting genealogy. For instance, since I have given birth to a son who is nearly seventeen years-old, if I were to die tomorrow, how could I possibly conceive that life after death does not exist when my son, who came out of my body, will continue to live after I die? A fair argument against this notion would concern men, parents who have no living children and those who have never had children—do they have an everlasting soul? Of course they do.
First of all, it requires the contributions of both men and women to produce a baby; therefore each human consists of a genetic code that reveals the characteristics of both biological parents which are also linked to relatives from each side. Therefore, even people who die that have never had children, surely have living biological relatives that reveal the same traces of their genetic information. A perfect example of this fact is of the recently found remains of King Richard III. “DNA from the skeleton [thought to be Richard’s] matched a sample taken from Michael Ibsen, a distant living relative of Richard's sister. The project's lead geneticist, Turi King, said Ibsen, a Canadian carpenter living in London, shares with the skeleton a rare strain of mitochondrial DNA. The same DNA group also matches a second living descendant, who wants to remain anonymous” (Lawless). It seems absolutely amazing that the genetic makeup of someone who died over 500 years ago can share characteristics with living relatives today! Furthermore, scientists hope to uncover information, such as the disease that he suffered from and even what he actually looked like by sequencing his genomes. Amazingly, over 500 years after Richard’s death, his remains and genes have the ability to convey distinct details about him that even history books could never accurately tell us.
Therefore, I cannot be sure of what a soul really is comprised of, but because of what I have learned of certain near-death experiences and considering genealogy, I am quite determined that there is life after death. I am also convinced that a part of us—our DNA—manages to survive long after we die. As a result, I fully support Socrates’ belief that “there is something in [us] that is indestructible” (Rachels 39).
Works Cited
Lawless, Jill. “King Richard III Skeleton, Found In Parking Lot, Identified By Archaeologists. Huff Post Science 6 Apr. 2013. 11 Oct.2014 < http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/europe/richard-iii-genome-sequence/index.html>.
Long, Jeffrey. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.
Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World’s Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. Problems from Philosophy. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
“Soul” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 2007. Print.
Concerning Western tradition, Socrates is one of the most celebrated philosophers of his time. Like many people, Socrates supported life after death, believing that “there is something in [us] that is indestructible” (Rachels 39). He also believed that we benefit when we die, as our soul finally departs from the body because he felt that “the body is a hindrance to the pursuit of truth” (Rachels 38). However, Socrates’ views about life after death were quite different than many of the religious principles that are celebrated throughout the world. For instance, Hinduism supports rebirth, where the status is determined by karma, which is understood as “moral consequences that are carried along with every act” (Molloy 87). Likewise, Buddhism supports a similar concept; however, it does reject “the notion of a soul (an unchanging spiritual reality)” (Molloy 138). In difference, Christianity supports the belief that “God will bring us back to life” (Rachels 39). There also happens to be people who do not support any religion or concepts of life after death.
Because of the many conflicting religious beliefs, I happen to support Socrates’ view that life after death is “independent of religion” (Rachels 38); however, I do have my own reasons for supporting this view. For instance, some of what led me to believe in life after death is fueled by certain near-death experiences (NDEs) that prove to be valid due to unexplainable occurrences that have affected certain people who have nearly died. Although there are many invalid claims of NDEs—as we have seen on television—many accounts, made by people of various religions, races, and regions—especially children and the visually blind seem to validate the concept of life after death.
Children prove to be excellent case studies because unlike adults, their claims are less likely to be influenced “by preexisting cultural influences, beliefs, or life experiences” (Long, chapter 9). Also, children tend to have less developed views, experience, and knowledge about death than most adults. In one case study examined by Dr. Jeffery Long, an eleven year-old girl named Jennifer encountered a NDE after she was in a serious car accident—her account is unbelievable, yet valid. She claimed to have seen her lifeless body from above, which is a common occurrence for adults that have NDEs. Jennifer claims that a voice instructed her to go back into her body and assist a man who was bleeding severely. The voice encouraged her to recover the man’s severed nose by telling her the location of it, and then she was instructed to place it back onto his face and apply pressure to stop the bleeding. Then she was told that help would find her along a specific part of a road, someone who would take them to the nearest hospital. As a result of her actions, the man’s life was saved and “a skin graft was used to reattach the nose with ‘barely a scratch left to notice” (Long, chapter 9). Another aspect that makes the NDEs of children unique is that in a transformation study, one doctor concluded that NDEs cause certain changes in children that can’t be fabricated. For instance, children with NDEs “had less death anxiety than the non-NDE population; they also had increased psychic abilities, a higher zest for life, and increased intelligence” (Long, chapter 9).
Likewise, some accounts of the NDEs that blind people have encountered also help support life after death. In one case, a woman named Vicki who had been blind since birth had a NDE after a car accident. She claimed to have witnessed medical staff attempting to save her when she flat-lined; however, at first she was unsure if the person she was hovering over was actually her, because she had never visually seen what she looked like before. Although she had been blind all of her life, Vicki can describe vivid visual details, such as “visiting a beautiful unearthly realm, encountering deceased friends, and a life review” (Long, chapter 5). Vicki’s NDE enabled her to see light and colors—things she never had the ability to experience before. One factor that suggests that Vicki’s visual encounter was not a bodily experience is that she “was immediately aware of her visual perceptions” (Long, chapter 5), whereas people who have been blind all their lives that eventually gain sight due to corrective surgery “have trouble making sense of visual perceptions” (Long, chapter 5). Consequently, people who have always been blind never experience visual dreams; their sense of experience relies on touching, tasting, smelling, and hearing. Furthermore, some people who lost their sight later in life also claim to see things such as bright lights and medical staff working on them. Additionally, even visually challenged individuals that have extremely poor vision often report seeing things clearly in high definition during their NDE.
Naturally, skeptics fuel many arguments that denote some of the claims that people make about NDEs and out-of-body experiences by pointing out other possibilities that can cause people to ‘think’ they experience signs of life after death. For instance, scientific researchers figured out that they can stimulate a certain part of the brain in order to induce out-of-body experiences; therefore, some experiences could possibly be caused by a specific type of brain injury. Skeptics might also point out that a drug, such as “ketamine, which is sometimes used as an anesthetic, produces all the features of near-death experiences” (Rachels 43). Furthermore, hallucinations that happen to be stimulated by certain drugs are also known to reveal similar aspects relating to what many people with NDE claim. Hallucinations can also be triggered because of lack of oxygen, which happens to occur when the heart stops. Perhaps one of the most valid arguments explaining NDEs involve rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is a hallucinatory phase of sleeping which “neurologist Kevin Nelson believes that near-death experiences are manifestations of” (Rachels 44). REM sleep is caused by the trauma that people who nearly die experience; therefore, the vivid out-of-body visions that people sometimes see can be fueled by “sleep paralysis; and the tunnel and the light are due in part to the loss of blood to the retina” (Rachels 44).
Although there are some plausible justifications that can scientifically explain the reasoning as to why so many people with NDEs are led to believe in life after death, they cannot possibly explain all experiences, especially Jennifer’s and Vicki’s occurrences. As an example, it does not make sense to assume that such aspects as a brain injury, drugs, lack of oxygen, or REM sleep caused a blind person, such as Vicki—who has never had the ability to visually see anything—to experience sight when she nearly died. It also seems absurd to support those notions involving Jennifer’s case because since she was in a sudden car accident, she was not under the influence of drugs. She did, however, experience trauma and suffered physical injuries. She also may have even been deprived of oxygen, although that has never been determined. However, the one aspect about Jennifer’s case that makes all of those possible theories seem invalid is the fact that after she hovered over her own body, she was instructed by a voice to return to her body and to perform very particular tasks that she would not have known how to do on her own accord, especially while severely injured and in shock.
A ‘soul’ is often defined as “the immaterial essence of an individual life” (Merriam-Webster’s 1192), which is quite similar to Socrates’ understanding of it. However, Socrates believed the soul is comprised of a nonphysical “part of you that perceives, thinks, and feels [that] never dies” (Rachels 38), which is why some of my views differ from his. I happen to believe that the soul or life after death in other words, could possibly represent a different notion: that our soul might not be comprised of our insights, ideas and emotions—it could represent our everlasting genealogy. For instance, since I have given birth to a son who is nearly seventeen years-old, if I were to die tomorrow, how could I possibly conceive that life after death does not exist when my son, who came out of my body, will continue to live after I die? A fair argument against this notion would concern men, parents who have no living children and those who have never had children—do they have an everlasting soul? Of course they do.
First of all, it requires the contributions of both men and women to produce a baby; therefore each human consists of a genetic code that reveals the characteristics of both biological parents which are also linked to relatives from each side. Therefore, even people who die that have never had children, surely have living biological relatives that reveal the same traces of their genetic information. A perfect example of this fact is of the recently found remains of King Richard III. “DNA from the skeleton [thought to be Richard’s] matched a sample taken from Michael Ibsen, a distant living relative of Richard's sister. The project's lead geneticist, Turi King, said Ibsen, a Canadian carpenter living in London, shares with the skeleton a rare strain of mitochondrial DNA. The same DNA group also matches a second living descendant, who wants to remain anonymous” (Lawless). It seems absolutely amazing that the genetic makeup of someone who died over 500 years ago can share characteristics with living relatives today! Furthermore, scientists hope to uncover information, such as the disease that he suffered from and even what he actually looked like by sequencing his genomes. Amazingly, over 500 years after Richard’s death, his remains and genes have the ability to convey distinct details about him that even history books could never accurately tell us.
Therefore, I cannot be sure of what a soul really is comprised of, but because of what I have learned of certain near-death experiences and considering genealogy, I am quite determined that there is life after death. I am also convinced that a part of us—our DNA—manages to survive long after we die. As a result, I fully support Socrates’ belief that “there is something in [us] that is indestructible” (Rachels 39).
Works Cited
Lawless, Jill. “King Richard III Skeleton, Found In Parking Lot, Identified By Archaeologists. Huff Post Science 6 Apr. 2013. 11 Oct.2014 < http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/europe/richard-iii-genome-sequence/index.html>.
Long, Jeffrey. Evidence of the Afterlife: The Science of Near-Death Experiences. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.
Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World’s Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. Problems from Philosophy. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
“Soul” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 2007. Print.