DOCSLIB.ORG

Liberty University School of Divinity a Non

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Liberty University School of Divinity a Non View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Liberty University Digital Commons LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY A NON-VOLUNTARIST THEORY: AN ALTERNATE EVANGELICAL APOLOGETIC FOR DEALING WITH THE EUTHYPHRO DILEMMA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY EVAN TAYLOR POSEY LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA OCTOBER 2016 APPROVAL SHEET A NON-VOLUNTARIST THEORY: AN ALTERNATE EVANGELICAL APOLOGETIC FOR DEALING WITH THE EUTHYPHRO DILEMMA Evan Taylor Posey Read and approved by: Chair Person: Richard A. Holland Reader: Edward N. Martin Reader: Anthony C. Thornhill Date: 10/9/2016 ii To my wife, Leslie-Ann, my children, and my family: There are no words that can adequately express my gratitude for your love, encouragement, and patience. iii CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ vi ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 Statement of Purpose and Thesis ...................................................................................... 10 Definitions ........................................................................................................................ 15 Summary and Content Outline of the Dissertation ........................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2: THE EUTHYPHRO DILEMMA AND MORAL PHILOSOPHY ................. 26 The Euthyphro Dilemma................................................................................................... 26 Standard Divine Command Theory and Moral Philosophy .............................................. 42 Guided Will Theory and Moral Philosophy ...................................................................... 54 CHAPTER 3: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARD DIVINE COMMAND THEORY ....................................................................... 63 Proponents of Standard Divine Command Theory ........................................................... 63 Opponents of Standard Divine Command Theory ............................................................ 79 The Contemporary Debate ................................................................................................ 97 CHAPTER 4: AN ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICAL REFORMULATIONS OF MODIFIED DIVINE COMMAND THEORY ... 109 William Lane Craig’s Non-Voluntarist Divine Command Theory ................................. 111 David Baggett and Jerry L. Walls’ More Defensible Divine Command Theory ............ 129 Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan’s Divine Command Theory of Obligation .......... 143 CHAPTER 5: A NON-VOLUNTARIST THEORY OF MORAL VALUES OBLIGATIONS, AND DUTIES ........................................................................ 160 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 160 A Non-Voluntarist Theory of Moral Values, Obligations, and Duties ........................... 162 Apologetic Effectiveness ................................................................................................ 177 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 198 iv BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 202 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of the faculty and staff at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary for their service for the kingdom, and their tireless investment. I would like to thank Dr. Leo Percer and Dr. John Morrison in particular for taking the time to pray with me and for me throughout the program. I would also like to thank all of the faculty and staff at Luther Rice College and Seminary. I consider them family and some of my most ardent cheerleaders. Dr. Rich Holland has been a patient mentor and invaluable resource throughout this process. He provided guidance, clear thinking, and a renewed sensitivity to careful thought regarding the goodness of God and his expectations of his creation. It was Dr. Holland that encouraged me to examine the issue of divine command theory, for that I am grateful. I am a more winsome ambassador for Christ because of his commitment to excellence. Dr. James Flanagan was as much of a mentor as any in completing this project. I would like to thank him for the extraordinary investment that he has made in me and this process. He hired me as a young twenty-five-year-old father of one. Ten years and six children later, I hope this project makes him proud. I would like to thank my parents, who have provided spiritual, emotional, and financial support throughout this process. I have had the unique privilege of walking this journey with my father, which has been a great blessing that few can claim to have experienced. It has been said that behind every great man there is a better woman. This is certainly true of my mother. Her love and patience have provided the encouragement to keep moving forward. There is no one more deserving of laud than my wife, Leslie-Ann Posey. She is my best friend, loving wife, and unbelievable mother. She was the first to encourage me to pursue apologetics, and she has continued to affirm God’s call throughout my education. Without her, vi this project would not exist. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all (Proverbs 31:29). Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my sovereign Lord. Thank you for calling me, giving me a new heart, and setting my life on a new trajectory. I pray that this apologetic effort will assist your kingdom in advancing your cause of calling the lost to yourself. vii ABSTRACT This dissertation presents an alternative response to the Euthyphro dilemma that will be referred to as the Non-Voluntarist Theory. It offers a critical evaluation of contemporary evangelical divine command theories to demonstrate the inherent ambiguity as they relate to Divine Command Theory, and their lack of apologetic force for answering the Euthyphro dilemma. To accomplish this task, it is important to understand how the Euthyphro Dilemma relates to theology and apologetics in general, and the contemporary attempts to ground objective moral values and duties in particular. The topic relates to theology, since one’s response to the Euthyphro Dilemma can implicitly or explicitly speak to God’s moral sovereignty. The topic relates to apologetics in two primary ways. First, the Euthyphro Dilemma is still offered by contemporary non-theists as a critique of the Christian faith. Therefore, the response one gives, and the method used, is vital to the apologetic enterprise. Second, the Euthyphro Dilemma is meant to challenge the belief that God is the explanatory ultimate for objective moral values and duties. In addition, an examination of the philosophical landscape that surrounds the relationship between the Euthyphro Dilemma and Divine Command Theory is needed. Contemporary formulations of divine command theories of ethics make a distinction between moral values and moral obligations and duties. While this is not an illicit distinction, it is a distinction that weakens the apologetic force of the argument. Therefore, it is imperative that a proposed solution to the Euthyphro Dilemma is able to explain sufficiently moral ontology, moral epistemology, and moral obligation. Contemporary evangelical formulations of Divine Command Theory are not evangelical, per se. Rather, these formulations are moral theories that happen to be ones that evangelicals viii tend to support. In order to critically evaluate contemporary evangelical divine command theories, one should be aware of the historical development of the Standard Divine Command Theory. In the field of research, special attention is given to one of the most notable representatives of the Standard Divine Command Theory, William of Ockham. Thus, one must be familiar with Ockham’s work. Also, one must be aware of the modifications that have been made to Divine Command Theory that depart from the Ockhamist version and frame the modern perspective. Non-theists tend to understand the Divine Command Theory in Ockhamist terms. Consequently, attempts by contemporary evangelical modified divine command theorists use divine command terminology in a non-standard way, which creates a more cumbersome apologetic. This dissertation will advance a position that moves towards the first horn, or non- voluntarist horn, of the Euthyphro Dilemma. It is thought that those who embrace this horn commit to the existence of a moral standard “outside, or distinct, from God” that guides the divine will. For example, William Lane Craig argues that to embrace the non-voluntarist horn of the Euthyphro Dilemma is to embrace atheistic moral Platonism.1 Traditionally, those who affirm this horn argue for the existence of objective moral values and duties that exist independent of God’s existence and are accessible independent of divine revelation or command. This position at times has been referred to as the Guided Will Theory, since God would be guided by these independent moral values and duties. This dissertation advances a Non- Voluntarist
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Medieval Western Philosophy: the European Emergence
    Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series I, Culture and Values, Volume 9 History of Western Philosophy by George F. McLean and Patrick J. Aspell Medieval Western Philosophy: The European Emergence By Patrick J. Aspell The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy 1 Copyright © 1999 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Gibbons Hall B-20 620 Michigan Avenue, NE Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Aspell, Patrick, J. Medieval western philosophy: the European emergence / Patrick J. Aspell. p.cm. — (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series I. Culture and values ; vol. 9) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Philosophy, Medieval. I. Title. III. Series. B721.A87 1997 97-20069 320.9171’7’090495—dc21 CIP ISBN 1-56518-094-1 (pbk.) 2 Table of Contents Chronology of Events and Persons Significant in and beyond the History of Medieval Europe Preface xiii Part One: The Origins of Medieval Philosophy 1 Chapter I. Augustine: The Lover of Truth 5 Chapter II. Universals According to Boethius, Peter Abelard, and Other Dialecticians 57 Chapter III. Christian Neoplatoists: John Scotus Erigena and Anselm of Canterbury 73 Part Two: The Maturity of Medieval Philosophy Chronology 97 Chapter IV. Bonaventure: Philosopher of the Exemplar 101 Chapter V. Thomas Aquinas: Philosopher of the Existential Act 155 Part Three: Critical Reflection And Reconstruction 237 Chapter VI. John Duns Scotus: Metaphysician of Essence 243 Chapter
    [Show full text]
  • Ethical Intuitionism: a Structural Critique
    J Value Inquiry (2016) 50:631–647 DOI 10.1007/s10790-016-9547-8 Ethical Intuitionism: A Structural Critique Danny Frederick1 Published online: 8 February 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 1 Introduction Recent years have seen attempts by many philosophers to rehabilitate, with some modifications, a traditional doctrine of ethical intuitionism (henceforward ‘‘intu- itionism’’). Contemporary intuitionists claim that moral knowledge consists of those propositions that are known by intellectual reflection (intuition), by moral observation or by moral emotion, or which are capable of being cogently inferred from propositions which are items of moral knowledge. Some intuitionists, such as Michael Huemer, admit only intuition (of particular or of general propositions) as a non-inferential source of moral knowledge; but others, such as Robert Audi, allow also moral observation and moral emotion. I offer a critique of contemporary intuitionist theories that depends upon their common structure: analysis of the abstract features of the approach show it to be an inadequate account of moral knowledge. I use Huemer and Audi as representative intuitionists. The differences between their views, and between their views and those of other intuitionists, are incidental at the level of generality of my argument. In section 2, I outline the contemporary intuitionist approach to moral knowledge. In sections 3, 4 and 5, I show that the problem of inter-cultural conflict undermines the claims that moral intuition, moral observation and moral emotion, respectively, are sources of non-inferential moral knowledge. I also explain the inadequacy of the intuitionist attempt to solve the problem by invoking bias or intellectual or moral failings.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Come': Apologetics and the Witness of the Holy Spirit
    1 THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE SAY ‘COME’: APOLOGETICS AND THE WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Kevin Kinghorn and Jerry L. Walls In a word, Christian apologetics is a defense of Christian theism. The Greek word apologia may refer to the kind of reasoned case a lawyer provides in defending the innocence of an accused person. Or, more broadly, the word may refer to any line of argument showing the truth of some position. 1 Peter 3:15 contains the instruction to Christians: “Always be prepared to give an answer [apologia] to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”1 1. Testimony: human and divine Within the four Gospels one finds a heavy emphasis on human testimony in helping others come to beliefs about Christ. For example, St. Luke opens his Gospel by explaining to its recipient, Theophilus, that he is writing “an orderly account” of the life of Jesus “so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Luke describes himself as drawing together a written account of things “just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word.”2 As Richard Swinburne remarks, “it is hard to read the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, and 1 Corinthians without seeing them as claiming that various historical events (above all, the Resurrection) occurred and that others can know these things on the testimony of the apostles to have seen them.”3 This passing down of apostolic testimony continued through the next generations of the early Christian Church.
    [Show full text]
  • Theodicy: an Overview
    1 Theodicy: An Overview Introduction All of us struggle at one time or another in life with why evil happens to someone, either ourselves, our family, our friends, our nation, or perhaps some particularly disturbing instance in the news—a child raped, a school shooting, genocide in another country, a terrorist bombing. The following material is meant to give an overview of the discussion of this issue as it takes place in several circles, especially that of the Christian church. I. The Problem of Evil Defined Three terms, "the problem of evil," "theodicy," and "defense" are important to our discussion. The first two are often used as synonyms, but strictly speaking the problem of evil is the larger issue of which theodicy is a subset because one can have a secular problem of evil. Evil is understood as a problem when we seek to explain why it exists (Unde malum?) and what its relationship is to the world as a whole. Indeed, something might be considered evil when it calls into question our basic trust in the order and structure of our world. Peter Berger in particular has argued that explanations of evil are necessary for social structures to stay themselves against chaotic forces. It follows, then, that such an explanation has an impact on the whole person. As David Blumenthal observes, a good theodicy is one that has three characteristics: 1. "[I]t should leave one with one’s sense of reality intact." (It tells the truth about reality.) 2. "[I]t should leave one empowered within the intellectual-moral system in which one lives." (Namely, it should not deny God’s basic power or goodness.) 3.
    [Show full text]
  • On God's Existence
    Scholars Crossing SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations Summer 2001 On God's Existence W. David Beck Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Epistemology Commons, Esthetics Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, Other Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Beck, W. David, "On God's Existence" (2001). SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations. 167. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/sor_fac_pubs/167 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in SOR Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. W. DAVID BECK 49 compared to the energy involved in the entire act of, say, raising one's hand to vote. When an engineer throws a switch to release the water behind Hoover Dam, the vast amount of potential energy unleashed by the moving water is overwhelmingly greater than that involved in the engineer throwing the switch. It may be the same with libeliarian acts. Perhaps the energy released in the exercise of active power is miniscule compared to the poten­ tial energy released in the body as part of the relevant causal pathway. I just don't lmow. Second, even if one opts for this second option (the release of energy is virtually undetectable), it doesn't follow that the resulting gap would not be detectable, since the effects of a libertarian act could still be quite different in a "gappy" way from what would have followed in the absence of that act.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death
    The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron Williams Honors College, Honors Research The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors Projects College Spring 2020 St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death Christopher Choma [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects Part of the Christianity Commons, Epistemology Commons, European History Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, History of Religion Commons, Metaphysics Commons, Philosophy of Mind Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Please take a moment to share how this work helps you through this survey. Your feedback will be important as we plan further development of our repository. Recommended Citation Choma, Christopher, "St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death" (2020). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1048. https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1048 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors College at IdeaExchange@UAkron, the institutional repository of The University of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects by an authorized administrator of IdeaExchange@UAkron. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 1 St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas on the Mind, Body, and Life After Death By: Christopher Choma Sponsored by: Dr. Joseph Li Vecchi Readers: Dr. Howard Ducharme Dr. Nathan Blackerby 2 Table of Contents Introduction p. 4 Section One: Three General Views of Human Nature p.
    [Show full text]
  • In Dialogue with the Greeks 1St Edition Kindle
    IN DIALOGUE WITH THE GREEKS 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Rush Rhees | 9781351964586 | | | | | In Dialogue with the Greeks 1st edition PDF Book Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Worlds Apart. This article needs additional citations for verification. Consequentialism Deontology Virtue. Ancient Philosophy. Notify us with 7 days of receiving, and we will offer a full refund without reservation! Kenklies, Karsten Minor wear and tears to head and foot of spine and some slight wear to spine edges. More information about this seller Contact this seller 8. Nabu Press, All Plato's writing, except for The Apology and the Letters, is in dialogue form. Social gadfly Socratic dialogue Socratic intellectualism Socratic irony Socratic method Socratic paradox Socratic questioning. Subjects; Plato. More information about this seller Contact this seller 1. I [69], , [1] o Vol. Plato wrote approximately 30 dialogues, in most of which Socrates is the main character. The translations of Meno, Laches and Euthydemus are included here for the first time. First Edition Thus. Wright, M. First Edition in this Format. Recco, Gregory and Eric Sanday eds. Socratic dialogue remained a popular format for expressing arguments and drawing literary portraits of those who espouse them. In some dialogues Plato's main character is not Socrates but someone from outside of Athens. Plato's Laws : Force and Truth in Politics. It is also said to be the longest day of the year, allowing for the densely packed twelve chapters. Details: Collation: Complete with all pages; 2 volumes o Vol. Cooper in Plato, Complete Works.
    [Show full text]
  • The Highest Good for Plato Goodness Is an Abstract Concept That Is Very
    The Highest Good for Plato Goodness is an abstract concept that is very difficult to define, and saying what counts as the highest good is perhaps even more so. In Republic, Plato attempts to say something about what makes things good, but his answer is very vague in the end. Still, we can get some clarity on what he would have answered if asked what the highest good is, from what he says in this text. What counts as the highest good for Plato can be said to be knowledge of the Form of the Good, because it is necessary for knowing and using the other Forms well. The nature of the Forms is not clear in Republic; Plato writes about them as if his audience already knows what they are. Still, we can get some sense of what forms are like from the text. In several places he says that when two or more things share the same name, then they share a form. For example, in Book IV Socrates and Glaucon talk about the form of justice: “…are things called by the same name, whether they are bigger or smaller than one another, like or unlike with respect to that to which the name applies? Alike. Then a just man won’t differ at all from a just city in respect to the form of justice; rather he’ll be like the city” (435 a-b). But what is a Form, exactly? We can start to get a sense of what Plato means by a Form by looking back at Euthyphro.
    [Show full text]
  • The Historicity of Plato's Apology of Socrates
    Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations 1946 The Historicity of Plato's Apology of Socrates David J. Bowman Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses Part of the Classical Literature and Philology Commons Recommended Citation Bowman, David J., "The Historicity of Plato's Apology of Socrates" (1946). Master's Theses. 61. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/61 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1946 David J. Bowman !HE HISTORICITY OP PLATO'S APOLOGY OF SOCRATES BY DA.VID J. BOWJWf~ S.J• .l. !BESIS SUBMITTED Ilf PARTIAL FULFILIJIE.NT OF THB: R}gQUIRE'IIENTS POR THE DEGREE OF IIA.STER OF ARTS Ill LOYOLA UlfiVERSITY JULY 1946 -VI'fA. David J. Bowman; S.J•• was born in Oak Park, Ill1no1a, on Ma7 20, 1919. Atter b!a eleaentar7 education at Ascension School# in Oak Park, he attended LoJola AcademJ ot Chicago, graduat1DS .from. there in June, 1937. On September 1, 1937# he entered the Sacred Heart Novitiate ot the SocietJ ot Jesus at Milford~ Ohio. Por the tour Jear• he spent there, he was aoademicallJ connected with Xavier Univeraitr, Cincinnati, Ohio. In August ot 1941 he tranaterred to West Baden College o.f Lorol& Universit7, Obicago, and received the degree ot Bachelor o.f Arts with a major in Greek in Deo.aber, 1941.
    [Show full text]
  • Can God's Goodness Save the Divine Command Theory
    CAN GOD’S GOODNESS SAVE THE DIVINE COMMAND THEORY FROM EUTHYPHRO? JEREMY KOONS Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar Abstract. Recent defenders of the divine command theory like Adams and Alston have confronted the Euthyphro dilemma by arguing that although God’s commands make right actions right, God is morally perfect and hence would never issue unjust or immoral commandments. On their view, God’s nature is the standard of moral goodness, and God’s commands are the source of all obligation. I argue that this view of divine goodness fails because it strips God’s nature of any features that would make His goodness intelligible. An adequate solution to the Euthyphro dilemma may require that God be constrained by a standard of goodness that is external to Himself – itself a problematic proposal for many theists. The Euthyphro dilemma is often thought to present a fatal problem for the divine command theory (aka theological voluntarism). Are right acts commanded by God because they are right, or are they right because they are commanded by God? If the former, then there is a standard of right and wrong independent of God’s commands; God’s commands are not relevant in determining the content of morality. This option seems to compromise God’s sovereignty in an important way. But the second horn of the dilemma presents seemingly insurmountable problems, as well. First, if God’s commands make right actions right, and there is no standard of morality independent of God’s commands, then that seems to make morality arbitrary. Thus, murder is not wrong because it harms someone unjustly, but merely because God forbids it; there is (it seems) no good connection between reason and the wrongness of murder.
    [Show full text]
  • Moral Realism in the Hebrew Bible Original Research Gericke
    Original Research BEYOND DIVINE COMMAND THEORY : MORAL REALISM IN THE HEBREW BIBLE Author: Jaco W. Gericke1 ABSTRACT Philosophical approaches to ancient Israelite religion are rare, as is metaethical refl ection on the A f fi l i a t i o n : Hebrew Bible. Nevertheless, many biblical scholars and philosophers of religion tend to take it for 1Faculty of Humanities, granted that the biblical metaethical assumptions about the relation between divinity and morality North-West University involve a pre-philosophical version of Divine Command Theory by default. In this paper the (Vaal Triangle Campus), author challenges the popular consensus with several arguments demonstrating the presence of South Africa moral realism in the text. It is furthermore suggested that the popular consensus came about as a result of prima facie assessments informed by anachronistic metatheistic assumptions about what Correspondence to: the Hebrew Bible assumed to be essential in the deity–morality relation. The study concludes with Jaco W. Gericke the observation that in the texts where Divine Command Theory is absent from the underlying moral epistemology the Euthyphro Dilemma disappears as a false dichotomy. e-mail: [email protected] INTRODUCTION Postal address: 22 Dromedaris, Toon van den Heever Street, (Gn 18:25) Sasolburg, 1947, South Africa ‘Far be it from you to act in this way; to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked. Far it be from you; shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?’ Keywords: (translation by author) HTS Studies/Theological Teologiese Studies Divine Command The term ‘morality’ does not appear in the Hebrew Bible.
    [Show full text]
  • Life After Death and the Devastation of the Grave
    In Michael Martin and Keith Augustine, eds., The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case Against Life After Death, Rowman & Littlefield 2015. Life After Death and the Devastation of the Grave Eric T. Olson 1. Life After Death One of the fundamental questions of human existence is whether there is life after death. If we had an oracle willing to answer just one philosophical question by saying “Yes” or “No,” this is the one that many of us would ask. Not being an oracle, I am unable to tell you whether there is an afterlife. But I can say something about whether there could be. Is it even possible? Or is the hope that we have life after death as vain as the hope that we might find the largest prime number? One way to think about whether there could be life after death is to ask what would have to be the case for us to have it. If it were possible, how might it be accomplished? Suppose you wanted to know whether it was possible for a hu- man being to visit another galaxy and return to earth. To answer this question, you would need to know what such a journey would involve. What sort of spaceship or other means of transport would it require? How fast would it have to go, and how long would the journey take? Only once you knew such things would you be able to work out whether it could possibly be done. In the same way, we need to know what our having life after death would require in order to see whether it is possible.
    [Show full text]