Does the mind survive death?

[bennyboy]

I'd go further than "probably not".

I just can't see how the mind can continue after death.

Even if it could, it'd be blind, deaf and dumb without the very real physical parts that it needs to plug into for the senses.

Anyone who has ever been unconscious for a while (for example under anaesthetic) has seen a window into death.

Well, first we have to define "mind."

If you take out all sense perceptions and thoughts, is there some little spark that is still mind? Or is there a background canvas on which those perceptions and thoughts are "displayed?"

I think most here would define mind simply as a single label for all the brain function which can be experienced, in which case the death of the brain would mean no mind.

However, if you treat mind as the medium rather than the processes, then I personally would say that whatever mind is, it pre-exists (and survives) thought processes.

However, this is little comfort because who gives a crap about an abstract spark when all your thoughts and memories are gone?