- Détails du magazine
- Format
- Magazine
- eISSN
- 2284-7308
- Première publication
- 20 Sep 2012
- Période de publication
- 3 fois par an
- Langues
- Anglais
Chercher
- Accès libre
The Soul and Personal Identity. Derek Parfit’s Arguments in the Substance Dualist Perspective
Pages: 3 - 23
Résumé
This paper re-evaluates Derek Parfit’s attack on the commonly held view that personal identity is necessarily determinate and that it is what matters. In the first part we first argue against the Humean view of personal identity; secondly, we classify the remaining alternatives into three kinds: the body theory and the brain theory, the quasi-Humean theory, and the soul theory, and thirdly we deploy Parfit’s arguments and related considerations to the point that none of the materialistic alternatives is consistent with the commonly held view. This leaves us with the alternative: either we accept the radical and highly implausible materialistic view Parfit calls ‘Reductionism’, or we accept the view that we are nonphysical indivisible entities—Cartesian egos, or souls. The second part of the paper discusses Parfit’s objections against the Cartesian view: that there is no reason to believe in the existence of such nonphysical entities; that if such entities exist, there is no evidence that they are enduring (to span a human life); that even if they exist and are enduring, they are irrelevant for the psychological profile and temporal continuity of a person; that experiments with ‘brain-splitted’ patients provide strong evidence against the Cartesian view. We argue that these objections are in part mistaken, and that the remaining (sound) part is not strong enough to make the Cartesian view less plausible than Reductionism.
Mots clés
- personal identity
- soul
- materialism
- dualism
- substance
Résumé
Derrida’s highly personal mourning texts are collected and published in a unique book under the title
Mots clés
- mourning
- eulogy
- friendship
- other
- fidelity
- survival
- Accès libre
Marilynne Robinson, Gilead , and the Battle for the Soul
Pages: 41 - 58
Résumé
A widespread view among contemporary philosophers and scientists is that the soul is a mystification. For Marilynne Robinson, American essayist and novelist, the crux of the matter is not the existence of the soul in itself, since this cannot be settled by debate. Rather, she challenges the sort of evidence that her opponents—mostly basing themselves on the work of neuroscientists, and evolutionary biologists—deem to be decisive in determining the question. The soul, she claims, does not appear at the level of our genes and neurons. Rather it is encountered in the many works of art and reflection that human beings have produced from the earliest times. This paper will focus on one such document,
Mots clés
- blessing
- metaphor
- soul
- mystery
- reductionist science
Résumé
Following the lead of Hannah Arendt and others, I want to argue that the imperial mystique seen in the British Empire found its way into Germany’s expansionist ambitions. I am concerned with the emotional costs of oppression, or what I call
Mots clés
- Holocaust
- imperialism
- trauma
- war
- soul
- Accès libre
Christian Materialism and the Quest for Human Personhood
Pages: 83 - 100
Résumé
This paper offers a critical exploration of philosopher Kevin Corcoran’s proposed Christian Materialism. Corcoran’s constitution view claims
Mots clés
- Christian Materialism
- constitution view
- Kevin Corcoran
- reductionism
- dualism
- Accès libre
Exploring Soul, Nature, and God. A Triad in Bhagavad gita
Pages: 101 - 118
Résumé
Humans have always been and still are fascinated by the elusive phenomenon of soul and have devised various approaches to interpret it and attribute different names to it; depending on which part, which religion, which tribe and which sect of the world they belong to. Theologians to philosophers to spiritual thinkers to literary authors and critics to scientists—all seem to be researching and explaining its nature and place in the universal scheme of things. Interestingly, there is a unanimity among all, regarding the eternity and indestructibility of soul. The ancient Hindu scripture,
Mots clés
- soul
- nature
- God
- spirituality
- self-actualization