A Philosophical Critique of Empirical Arguments for Postmortem Survival

Sudduth provides a critical exploration of classical empirical arguments for survival arguments that purport to show that data collected from ostensibly paranormal phenomena constitute good evidence for the survival of the self after death. Utilizing the conceptual tools of formal epistemology, he argues that classical arguments are unsuccessful.

Autorentext

Dr. Michael Sudduth (D.Phil., University of Oxford) is a philosopher of religion at San Francisco State University, with previous appointments at Saint Michael's College and Calvin College. His previous book The Reformed Objection to Natural Theology explored the propriety and role of arguments for God's existence in the Protestant theological tradition.

Inhalt

1 Introduction: The Classical Empirical Survival Debate 2 Exploring the Hypothesis of Personal Survival 3 Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experiences 4 Mediumistic Communications 5 Cases of the Reincarnation Type 6 Classical Explanatory Arguments for Survival 7 Bayesian Explanatory Arguments 8 Bayesian Defenses of the Survival Hypothesis 9 The Problem of Auxiliary Assumptions 10 Exotic Counter-Explanations 11 Conclusion: The Classical Arguments Defeated