RE: The afterlife and the soul
January 7, 2016 at 9:10 am
(This post was last modified: January 7, 2016 at 9:11 am by The Grand Nudger.)
(January 7, 2016 at 1:19 am)Vincent Wrote: I think the most alluring thing about religion for many individuals is the promise of an afterlife. As an atheist, I don't believe that the afterlife exists. I don't think it's possible. And here's why.The general notion, is that the "soul" in the afterlife is an analog for the body, regarding senses. We hear of the beautiful sights in heaven, the beautiful music, the pleasures and happiness. There are, apparently, spirit ears, and spirit eyes, spirit tongues and spirit hands for your spirit self. The body (and brain) seems a bit redundant in that context, but fuck it, these people are crazy, what did you expect?
In order for there to be an afterlife, there has to be a soul. For the soul is what is carried on after death, correct?
But is there even reason to believe that the soul exists? Think about it: The brain can be proven responsible for every aspect of you as a person: your personality, your actions, your beliefs, your desires, your emotions, your willpower, the love you have for other people, virtually everything originates and is carried out by your brain, as can be seen in the subject of psychology. Where does the soul even factor in to the equation? The brain explains everything without need for a soul. The soul, if it exists, serves no purpose, as everything we once attributed to it as primitive humans we have since found to be actions of brain functioning.
So the problem is, if we know that the brain ceases functioning after we die, then what does the "soul" carry on with it to the afterlife (operating under the assumption that it's real)? What lives on after you die, is it really even you? What of you is left? Simply a life force, though your life force vanished with your last heartbeat? You had consciousness entirely because of your brain.
So with the brain gone, how would you even be aware to experience the tortures of hell or the blissful paradise of Heaven? Without a brain to process those feelings, you cannot actually feel them. Without a brain to remember and communicate with your loved ones, how can you meet them in heaven, how can you recognize them, how can you speak to them? Those are all abilities of a brain you no longer have.
Theists: how do you make rational sense of these dilemmas? Is there some secret about the soul that I'm missing here?
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