David H. Lund is professor emeritus of philosophy at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota. He is enjoying his retirement on his farm in northern Minnesota.

Table of Contents

Preface

INTRODUCTION

The Perennial Question

A Philosophical Approach

The Influence and Scope of Science

The Coherence of the Idea of Post-Mortem Existence

The Relevance of the Case for Theism

The Nature of Persons and the Laws of Nature

Part I: Persons, Bodies, and the Possibility of Post-Mortem Existence

THE CASE AGAINST POST-MORTEM EXISTENCE

Antecedent Probability of Extinction

Empirically-Grounded Support of Extinction

Theory-Based Arguments for Extinction

MINDS, SOULS AND PERSONS

Materialist-Reductionist Accounts of the Mental

Materialist Theories of Personal Identity

The Immateriality of the Mental

Psychological Theories of the Person

The Person as Subject of Conscious States

MENTAL-PHYSICAL RELATIONS

The Causality Problem

Mind-Brain Interaction

Causation Conceived as Reducible

Causation Conceived as Irreducible

Deep Causation

The Directionality of Causation

Intentional Causation

Dualistic Causation and the Causal Closure Hypothesis

Mental-Mental Causation

Paranormal Causation

The Causal Independence of the Conscious Self

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS SUPPORTIVE OF POST-MORTEM EXISTENCE

Theism and Revelation Accounts

The Deep Unity of the Self

Non-Intentional Consciousness and the Self

Part II. Ostensible Evidence of Post-Mortem Existence

OUR INVESTIGATION SO FAR

NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES

Death-Bed Visions

Non-Terminal Near-Death Experiences

Naturalistic Explanation of NDEs

Paranormal Theories: ESP and Super-ESP

APPARITIONS

Reciprocal Apparitions

The Naturalistic Interpretation

Paranormal Interpretations of Apparitions of the Dead

Collective and Iterative Apparitional Experiences

The Super-Psi Hypothesis

The Telepathic Theory

The Objectivist Theory

The Survivalist Explanation

REINCARNATION

Reincarnation vs. Possession Interpretations

Cases of Responsive Xenoglossy

Spontaneous Recall of Ostensible Former Lives

The Shanti Devi Case

The Case of Jasbir Jat

The Case of Swarnlata Mishra

Naturalistic Explanations

The Fraud Hypothesis

Cryptomnesia

Paramnesia

Inherited Memory

Paranormal Explanations

The Psi Hypothesis

ESP Plus Impersonation

Reincarnation and Survival

Reincarnation and the Subject of Conscious States

MENTAL MEDIUMSHIP

The Mediumship of Mrs. Piper

Mrs. Willett's Mediumship

Proxy Sittings

"Drop-In" Communicators

The Cross-Correspondences

CONCLUSION: ASSESSMENT OF THE CASE FOR POST-MORTEM EXISTENCE

Overview of Our Investigation into the Essence of Persons

Dispositions and the Self

Sensory Experience in an Afterworld

Discarnate Communication

The Significance of the Ostensible Evidence of Survival

Super-Psi or Survival?

The Balance of Probabilities

Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index