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    Made withinDC&Austin
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    321,452
    Perspectives
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    42
    Beliefs about death and the possibility of an afterlife a... — Carmelics
    Home/Afterlife & Death
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Beliefs about death and the possibility of an afterlife are of enduring significance.

    Afterlife & Death
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.We care for persons here and now, and thus are concerned for their future and our own.
      ?

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    • 2.Just as it is reasonable to hope that those we love have a fulfilling future in this life, it is natural to consider whether this life is the only life there is.
      ?

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    • 3.If there is reason to believe that there is an afterlife, it would be reasonable to hope that this might involve a new, valuable environment or at least one that is not Hellish in nature.
      ?

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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Epicurus argued that death is the cessation of experience, making post-mortem states conceptually incoherent as objects of rational concern.
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    • 2.If 'I' cannot exist without the specific neural substrate that constitutes my consciousness, then afterlife beliefs concern a numerically distinct entity, not oneself.
      ?

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    • 3.Caring about a post-mortem successor no more makes afterlife beliefs significant than caring about a clone makes cloning beliefs personally urgent.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Feuerbach and Marx contend that afterlife beliefs derive their significance not from metaphysical truth but from socioeconomic conditions that make present life unbearable.
      ?

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    • 2.If the enduring significance of afterlife beliefs is explained entirely by psychological projection and material deprivation, their philosophical standing is undermined.
      ?

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    • 3.A belief whose persistence is fully explained by non-epistemic causes lacks the kind of enduring significance that warrants serious philosophical investigation.
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    Afterlife & Death

    Related

    A belief whose persistence is fully explained by non-epistemic causes lacks the ...Caring about a post-mortem successor no more makes afterlife beliefs significant...Epicurus argued that death is the cessation of experience, making post-mortem st...Feuerbach and Marx contend that afterlife beliefs derive their significance not ...
    +5 moreShow less
    If 'I' cannot exist without the specific neural substrate that constitutes my co...If the enduring significance of afterlife beliefs is explained entirely by psych...If there is reason to believe that there is an afterlife, it would be reasonable...Just as it is reasonable to hope that those we love have a fulfilling future in ...We care for persons here and now, and thus are concerned for their future and ou...

    Similar

    The topic of an afterlife is of historical and contemporary interest.85%The question of the implications for our lives now if at death we pass...83%Our values about present persons, things, and events have a bearing on...82%Many persons strongly desire that there should be an afterlife and bel...80%

    Source

    AI-extracted3/3 agreementValid
    SEP: afterlife
    View source passageHide passage
    There are five sections in this entry. In the first, we propose that beliefs about death and the possibility of an afterlife are of enduring significance because of our care for persons here and now, and thus our concern for their future and our own. Just as it is reasonable to hope that those we love have a fulfilling future in this life, it is natural to consider whether this life is the only life there is and, if there is reason to believe that there is an afterlife (or a life beyond this life), it would be reasonable to hope that this might involve a new, valuable environment or at least o...
    Extraction notes

    Validity: The passage explicitly states that beliefs about death and the afterlife are of enduring significance "because of our care for persons here and now," and the extracted premises accurately capture the reasoning chain presented in the first section's description.

    Confidence: The argument is fairly explicitly laid out as a rationale for why afterlife beliefs matter philosophically.

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit