The concept of disembodied existence is coherent - Discuss

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"The concept of disembodied existence is coherent" - Discuss

The possibility of disembodied existence cannot be considered without taking into account the nature of the human person. A natural way of thinking would seem to be that mind-body dualism is a "survival-friendly" metaphysical view, whereas materialism seems to be inimical to survival. However, the logical possibility (or 'coherence') of dualist survival - specifically, of disembodied survival - has been seriously questioned. The general form taken by such questioning lies in the assertion that we have no "criteria of identity" for disembodied persons. When we make judgments about the identity of persons we are not making judgments about the identity of souls - souls are said to be 'imperceptible'.

It is arguable that a superior source of evidence for the survival of a disembodied consciousness lies in so-called "near-death experiences". These are experiences of persons who were, or perceived themselves to be, close to death; indeed many such persons met the criteria for clinical death. While in this state, they undergo remarkable experiences, often taken to be experiences of the world that awaits them after death. Returning to life, they testify to their experiences, claiming in many