Lecture Notes: Professor Shelly Kagan - Life After Death

Introduction to the Topic

• Question: Is there life after death? Can I survive my death?
• Initial considerations:
  • Understanding of what a person is.
  • Concept of surviving and personal identity.

Key Questions for the Course

1. What am I?

   • Definition of a person.
   • Metaphysical composition of people.

2. What is personal identity?

   • Nature of identity and persistence over time.
   • What constitutes the same person over time.

Objection to the Question of Life After Death

• Philosophical objection:

  • The question is misconceived, based on confusion.
  • Natural definition of death: end of life.
  • Asking "Is there life after death?" is like asking if there's life after the end of life.
  • Example: Questioning food after it's all eaten.

• Implication:

  • If death means the end of life, then you cannot survive death.

Clarifying the Question

• Despite objections, the question can be reformulated:
  • Might I exist after the death of my body?
• Introduction of terms:
  • "Will I survive my death?"
  • "Is there life after death?"

Metaphysical Questions

Two Basic Views on What a Person Is

1. Dualist View:

   • Persons consist of both body and soul.
   • Soul is immaterial, distinct from the body.
   • Souls provide a basis for consciousness and personality.

2. Physicalist View (Monist):

   • A person is just a body, a complex physical object.
   • No separate soul; consciousness arises from physical processes.
   • Emphasizes what bodies can do (thinking, feeling, etc.).

Comparison of Views

• Dualism:

  • Soul can survive body’s death, opening possibilities for afterlife.
  • The person is strictly the soul, not the combination of body and soul.

• Physicalism:

  • All experiences and consciousness arise from physical processes.
  • No separate existence after bodily death.

Philosophical Implications

• Dualism:

  • If the soul exists, can it survive bodily death?
  • Questions about the immortality of the soul.

• Physicalism:

  • The end of the body means the end of the person.

Important Considerations

• Questions raised:

  1. Do souls exist?
  2. If they do, do they survive the body’s death?
  3. If they survive, do they continue to exist forever?

• Interactionist Dualism:

  • Body affects soul and vice versa, but does not guarantee immortality of the soul.

Conclusion and Next Steps

• The discussion will continue to explore these questions and positions throughout the course.
• Next week, focus on Plato's arguments for the immortality of the soul.