PHIL 176: Death

Lecture 2 - The nature of persons: dualism vs. physicalism << previous session | next session >>

Overview:

Professor Kagan discusses the two main positions with regard to the question, "What is a person?" On the one hand, there is the dualist view, according to which a person is a body and a soul. On the other hand, the physicalist view argues that a person is just a body. The body, however, has a certain set of abilities and is capable of a large range of activities.

Reading assignment:

Rosenberg, Jay. "Life After Death: In Search of the Question." In Thinking Clearly About Death. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1983. pp. 18-22

Class lecture:

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Resources:

Figures 2.1-2.2 [PDF]