Life After Death essay

Death is the permanent cessation of all vital functions in a living creature; it is the end of life. Monism is the belief that the body and soul are one entity. Aristotle, for example, spoke of the body and soul being a harmony. For Aristotle, the soul is form: it is a non-physical aspect of humans, which allows the body to achieve its potential, and without the body, the soul would be of no use as it would be unrecognisable. It is possible to base a theory of life after death on a monistic position. John Hick refers to humans as a ‘psycho-physical unity’ where body and soul are one. God makes it possible for this psychophysical unity to survive death.

On the other hand, Dualism is the belief that the body and soul are separate entities and it is only the soul that is immortal. Rene Descartes arrived at a theory of dualism. In “Meditations”, he wrote: “The body is material but not conscious whilst, the soul is immaterial and conscious, with feelings and thoughts”. He argued that the body and mind are separate entities yet they interact with each other through the brain. When a person dies, the body, which is matter, also dies. However the soul, which is immaterial, continues to live. Descartes continues; “Our soul is of a nature that is entirely independent of the body and since nothing can destroy it, the soul is immortal.

From a theistic perspective, life after death is possible as it is a desirable prospect. It is the soul that is the real eye that survives the death process and is then joined to a recreated body, in order to continue existence. The two beliefs of life after death, this essay will examine are, reincarnation and resurrection.

Reincarnation is a dualist theory of life after death. Believed in by Hindus and Sikhs, it is the belief that, at the point of death, the eternal soul (atman), leaves the body and attaches itself to another body. This is known as transmigration of the soul. According to the Bhagvan Gita, reincarnation is like