PHIL 176: Death
Lecture 05 - Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part III: Free Will and Near-death Experiences. Professor Kagan discusses in detail the argument of free will as proof for the existence of an immaterial soul. The argument consists of three premises: 1) We have free will. 2) Nothing subject to determinism has free will. 3) All purely physical systems are subject to determinism. The conclusion drawn from this is that humans are not a purely physical system; but Professor Kagan explains why this argument is not truly compelling. In addition, near-death experiences and the Cartesian argument are discussed at length. (from oyc.yale.edu)
| Lecture 05 - Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part III |
| Time | Lecture Chapters |
| [00:00:00] | 1. The Dualist's Stance on Free Will and the Soul's Existence |
| [00:04:57] | 2. Determinism and Free Will Cannot Coexist - Inspecting Incompatibility |
| [00:15:22] | 3. Positing the Soul's Existence for Near-Death Experiences |
| [00:28:14] | 4. Does a Physical Understanding of Supernatural Phenomena Exist? |
| [00:36:33] | 5. Introduction to Descartes's Cartesian Argument: The Mind and the Body Are Not the Same |
| [00:45:34] | 6. Conclusion |
| References |
| Lecture 5 - Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part III: Free Will and Near-death Experiences Instructor: Professor Shelly Kagan. Resources: How to Write a Philosophy Paper [PDF]; Figure 5.1 [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov]. |
Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures: