Are We Bodies or Souls?
What are humans? What makes us who we are?

Many think that we are just complicated machines, or animals that are different from machines only by being conscious. In Are We Bodies or Souls? Richard Swinburne comes to the defence of the soul and presents new philosophical arguments that are supported by modern neuroscience. When scientific advances enable neuroscientists to transplant a part of brain into a new body, he reasons, no matter how much we can find out about their brain activity or conscious experiences we will never know whether the resulting person is the same as before or somebody entirely new. Swinburne thus argues that we are immaterial souls sustained in existence by our brains. Sensations, thoughts, and intentions are conscious events in our souls that cause events in our brains. While scientists might discover some of the laws of nature that determine conscious events and brain events, each person's soul is an individual thing and this is what ultimately makes us who we are.
1130750620
Are We Bodies or Souls?
What are humans? What makes us who we are?

Many think that we are just complicated machines, or animals that are different from machines only by being conscious. In Are We Bodies or Souls? Richard Swinburne comes to the defence of the soul and presents new philosophical arguments that are supported by modern neuroscience. When scientific advances enable neuroscientists to transplant a part of brain into a new body, he reasons, no matter how much we can find out about their brain activity or conscious experiences we will never know whether the resulting person is the same as before or somebody entirely new. Swinburne thus argues that we are immaterial souls sustained in existence by our brains. Sensations, thoughts, and intentions are conscious events in our souls that cause events in our brains. While scientists might discover some of the laws of nature that determine conscious events and brain events, each person's soul is an individual thing and this is what ultimately makes us who we are.
21.99 In Stock
Are We Bodies or Souls?

Are We Bodies or Souls?

by Richard Swinburne
Are We Bodies or Souls?

Are We Bodies or Souls?

by Richard Swinburne

Hardcover

$21.99 
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Overview

What are humans? What makes us who we are?

Many think that we are just complicated machines, or animals that are different from machines only by being conscious. In Are We Bodies or Souls? Richard Swinburne comes to the defence of the soul and presents new philosophical arguments that are supported by modern neuroscience. When scientific advances enable neuroscientists to transplant a part of brain into a new body, he reasons, no matter how much we can find out about their brain activity or conscious experiences we will never know whether the resulting person is the same as before or somebody entirely new. Swinburne thus argues that we are immaterial souls sustained in existence by our brains. Sensations, thoughts, and intentions are conscious events in our souls that cause events in our brains. While scientists might discover some of the laws of nature that determine conscious events and brain events, each person's soul is an individual thing and this is what ultimately makes us who we are.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780198831495
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 10/01/2019
Pages: 208
Sales rank: 498,428
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Richard Swinburne was Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford from 1985 until 2002. Since then he has continued to lecture in many different countries. His published works include a trilogy on the philosophy of theism, the central title being The Existence of God, Second Edition (Oxford 2004), a tetralology of books on the meaning and justification of central Christian doctrines, and Mind, Brain, and Free Will (Oxford 2013). He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Physicalism and Property Dualism 12

3 Theories of Personal Identity 42

4 Descartes's Argument for the Soul 68

5 We Know Who We Are 86

6 Souls and Bodies Interact 115

7 Could Science Explain Souls? 141

Notes 173

Guide to Further Reading 183

Index 185

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