Gretchen Weirob is a philosophy professor who happens to think logically for every given situation. Recently she was involved in a motorbike accident from which she sustained some major injuries, leaving her only a few days to survive. Her reverend friend, Sam Miller and her former student, Dave Cohen came to visit her at the hospital. Weirob asked Miller to comfort her, to give her some hope that there is life after death, a way that will make her survive after she lives her body and it decomposes, that there would still be a Gretchen Weirob. They agreed from the first that Weirob will not be convinced by Miller but she will take it into consideration if Miller happens to prove or give a slightest, imaginable possibility that there is life …show more content…
(177)
According to Miller’s first theory soul and body works together. By looking at soul we can tell who the person is. Each individual has their own soul which cannot be taken away from them. Furthermore when somebody's body deceases, so does their spirit. The issue with this hypothesis is if we apply this guideline to heaven, it gets to be inconceivable for somebody to get by after death of the body. After death, body will be spoiled so it’s absolutely impossible the same individual with the spirit will have the same body so it demonstrates that if there's one body one soul then there is no possibility to have life after death. This consequently demonstrates Miller hypothesis of body and soul isn't right, which means Weirob is right to claim that body and soul is not the only thing that defines a person. She defends her theory by saying that soul in not observable neither touchable nor audible, hence we cannot just say person A will always be person A because we can’t see their soul. Miller and Weirob both later realized something is wrong with Miler’s theory. So he came up with another theory which revolves around memory. As we all know memory is something which is hard to take away from a person unless he
…show more content…
This case was about two girls who were injured. Due to the incident Julia’s body died but her brain was saved, opposite of that happened with Mary Frances, her body was saved but her brain was damaged completely. Miller and Weirob who argued who the new person would be if Julia’s brain was implanted into Mary’s body. Miller thinks it would be Julia because her soul or the memory is being transferred into Mary’s body so, Mary will have all the memories of Julia. Contrast of that Weirob opposed to that and claimed it would be still Frances because her body didn’t diminished. She might not have the memory but she has all her body parts. There are many people who are suffering from mental disease where they don’t remember anything that had happened with them in past years, but they are still the same person from inside. Suppose they were Mr. M who lost his brain, if someone sees them they would still call him Mr. M and not someone else. Which proves Millers second theory is also wrong. Later Weirob was having a discussion with Dave Cohen and Sam Miller where she revealed that a physicist advised an operation for her where her body will diminish but
This example is credited to Derek Parfit, a brutish philosopher who specialized in the problems of personal identity, ethics, rationality, and the relations among them. For the above example he would argue that Liesl would actually continue to survive through her clone. Parfit has a large number of reasons as to why he would hold such a belief. Customarily an average human would assume that simply because the original Liesl has been destroyed that she is dead and that the clone is an entirely different entity, but Parfit argues that because the clone retains all the memories, characteristics, and thoughts of the original Liesl that there is no substantial difference between the two and as such should still be regarded as Liesl. Parfit posits the question of responsibility, as in would this new Liesl be responsible for
After this episode a professor convinced her to go to the hospital and reluctantly she complied. This hospital did not take kindly to her psychosis and restrained her numerous times with straps. She had never been treated this way before and was confused and frightened. She later said for a hospital for the mentally ill it had been a brutal experience (157). She then was moved to a different hospital, memorial Unit 10 (MU10) where she was first diagnosed with “Schizophrenia with acute exacerbation” (167). Though she had finally gotten a diagnosis for her broken brain it seemed more like a death sentence than a diagnosis. She continued on with life in depression, psychosis, and denial.
The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is whether you are alive before death” (Rajneesh, n.d.). This short story narrates about a woman named Martha Bes that apparently died. The main character is debating whether or not she is alive or dead. Also she goes about asking what God wanted her to do. “The book of Martha” written by Octavia Butler uses literary elements to present the overall message what is God’s purpose in life.
When the doctor explains that he saw her "real face, the face of a real self, it's a good face, it's a human face" It shows that he now sees her as a person rather than just a case, sadly how
From a scientific perspective, memory is not a reliable source. Although the big picture might be accurately recalled, the specifics of the event often lose its precision as time progresses. In addition, human memories often vary because of differences in interpretation, beliefs, and values. As a result, it would not be surprising if Jeannette Walls remembered events differently from her siblings. For example, since “Maureen always had plenty to eat” (Walls 173) and “was more or less living with neighbors” (Walls 249), she likely views life in Welch more positively compared to her siblings. Further, one person may think an event was more significant than another. Even though Jeannette’s story may not be completely accurate, it is truthful in her perspective. In other words, since Jeanette believes that her memory is accurate, then she is being truthful. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men…” (Emerson 1).
Miller first raises some examples to proof his argument is possible but doesn't have to explain to Weirob what plan God has in mind. The example is about a painting can have ugly parts but been more beautiful or deep because of them or a dull chapter in an interesting novel. But Weirob does not think her suffering with her flu compares with those examples at all. She claims that she is not a picture of a sniveling, dripping, suffering human but a sniveling dripping, suffering human. This convinces us to think that Weirob wants Miller to give her a more detail of example which is related to her.
John Hick believes psychophysical re-creation and parapsychology is evidence for life after death. He says the soul cannot be destroyed, unlike the body. Hicks believe man is not an immortal soul attached to a predetermined body, but man is a mortal with a psychophysical life that has to rely on God. To explain what Hicks means, he uses John Smith, a man who disappears from the U.S. and is the same person in India at the same time. Since John Smith is exactly the same people
So she obtains the case files and wants to get Helen’s opinion on the case. At first Helen is reluctant to help because as M.J. Monaham starts to
After declaring Jahi McMath brain dead, the doctors at the Children’s Hospital ordered her to be taken off mechanical ventilation. Her mother, Latasha Winkfield, refused to accept that her daughter was dead and incapable of recovering (du Toit & Miller, 2016). Winkfield believed her daughter was still alive because McMath was breathing and her heart was still beating (du Toit & Miller, 2016). McMath’s family disagreed with the doctors’ report and filed a lawsuit to prevent life support from being discontinued (Paola, 2014).
He illiterates this claim by a thought experiment involving torture. In this hypothetical Williams tells individuals that they will be tortured at noon the following day. Naturally everyone feels uneasy about this. In order to easy this feeling, Williams tells those waiting to be tortured that before noon the individual’s entire memory will be erased. Williams argues that if memory is necessary for personal identity, this news should put any feelings of uneasiness to rest. When asked, the individual still reports feeling uneasy about the torture. Williams repeats this process altering the scenario from amnesia to exchanging the memories of the individual who will be torured for those of another. Again when prompted the individual still feels uneasy about the torture. Williams claims that this is proof of the body being just as necessary as the memories. However, this is not a fair analysis of the situation. When the individual is told of their torture as a matter of fact, it is a natural reaction to feel uneasy. This is similar to feeling anxious about a public speaking event that unexpectedly gets canceled right before taking the stage. There will remain a sense of anxiety until the event causing that feeling is gone. Likewise, the feeling of unrest will remain present until the moment of memory loss. This therefore fails as an example to increase the importance of the body in regards to
To start with, the body theory is not mysterious like the soul theory. If I believed in souls, and favored the soul theory, how could I prove that I did not get a new soul every five hours or three days? I would not be able to. The body theory means having the same body. This also means having most of your same body. For example, in Star Wars when Luke Skywalker got his hand cut off, he still had most of his body; therefore, he is the same person.
The story of two sisters, Melissa and Melinda, is one of deep philosophical analysis. The harsh scenario is of the two sisters’ brother, Matthew, who is involved in a horrific accident that essentially leaves him brain dead and only alive through a complex network of life support systems. According to Matthew’s last will and testament, he states specifically that if something of this sort ever happens to him, both sisters must mutually agree upon the ultimate decision of whether or not to proverbially “pull the plug.” This is a massive decision that will take great deliberation upon both parties to inevitably come to common terms with one another. Essentially, both sisters have their own aspect of what they should do regarding
Kim Souzzi was 23 when she succumbed glioblastoma, a terminal brain cancer that is incurable; however, her legacy lives on through what in the past was just science fiction. Kim’s brain is cryogenically frozen in the hopes that it one day can be mapped and her conscious be uploaded to a computer. Experts in the field of neuroscience disagree whether or not the process is possible as time and technology are potent variables. Despite being riddled with moral, fundamental, and scientific questions Kim raised funding via her online blog and Reddit. There were mixed comments on Kim’s blog, many supportive of her endeavor and many on the contrary. Ideals clash when it comes to human mortality. For centuries religion and science are in constant conflict,
The book presented some excellent case studies and had made us aware we have severely underestimated the brain’s capacity ( to function) to recover from injury or develop in the face of hereditary misfortunes. However, his book may not be as unique as we think. All the examples are based on case studies, and very few indicate any evidence of follow-up after some years later; Case studies can fail and cannot be used for the general population. For instance, the text tells us that the longer Cheryl wore the hat, the longer she could keep her balance after she took it off and over the course of a year, Cheryl built her residual effect for four months and now does not use the device at all. She has been cured by her brain with the help of the machine, but it did not tell us a follow up was made after some years, and Cheryl is still functioning well without the use of the instrument.
A young woman must decide whether to follow the laws of her gods or her king in order to bury her dead brother. The punishment from her king is death, but the punishment of the gods could be everlasting after death. Which punishment does she choose? A philosopher journals his thoughts on many different topics including life as part of the whole, carpe diem, mortality and its consequences, and the ability to release negativity from our lives.