Science of Life After Death

Description

This book examines the best available empirical evidence regarding one of the most challenging and pervasive questions throughout ages, cultures, and religions: the survival of human consciousness after death. It begins with a contextual overview of belief in personal survival and refutes misguided historical and epistemological arguments against the notion of survival after death (e.g., irrational, purely religious, impossible to be addressed by science, that has been proved false by neuroscience). The book provides an overview of the scientific evidence regarding the survival of human consciousness after death, focusing on studies on mediumship, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and reincarnation. Featured topics of coverage include: • The belief in life after death in the contemporary world as well as in the history of religions and philosophy. • The key misguided arguments and prejudices against the academic study of afterlife survival. • What constitutes empirical evidence for survival after death? • The main explanatory hypotheses alternative to survival after death. • The chief cultural barriers to a fair examination of the available evidence for survival of consciousness after death. Science of Life After Death is an essential resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in developmental and clinical psychology; spirituality, religious. and consciousness studies; psychiatry; neuroscience / neurology; phenomenology / philosophy; complementary and alternative medicine; and all interrelated disciplines. • Offers a contextual overview of belief in personal survival after death • Refutes misguided historical and epistemological arguments against the notion of survival after death • Examines empirical studies on mediumship, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and reincarnation Foreword References Acknowledgments Contents About the Authors 1: Introduction References 2: The Idea of Survival of the Soul in the History of Religions and Philosophy References 3: Setting the Scene: Addressing the Main Arguments Against Survival Hypothesis Neuroscience “Proves” that the Brain Generates Mind Principle of Parsimony: We Should Explain Mind Solely on a Material Basis There Is No Mechanism for How the Mind Would Influence the Brain Science Has Proved Physicalism and Survival Implies Supernaturalism Survival Implies Cartesian Dualism that Is Rejected by Learned People References 4: What Would Constitute Evidence for Personal Survival After Death? References 5: The Best Available Evidence for Life After Death Mediumship Mrs. Leonora Piper Chico Xavier Other Mediumship Studies Alternative Explanations Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences Veridical Perceptions Alternative Explanations Reincarnation Cases of Reincarnation Type Alternative Explanations References 6: The Weight of the Whole Body of Evidence for Life After Death Hypotheses Alternative to Survival Fraud Chance, Cryptomnesia, Fabrications of the Unconscious Mind, and Other Conventional Sources Living Agent Psi (LAP) References 7: Cultural Barriers to a Fair Examination of the Available Evidence for Survival References 8: Conclusion References Index