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PHIL 176: Death

Lecture 5 - Arguments for the existence of the soul, Part III: Free
will and near-death experiences
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Overview:

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.  

Reading assignment:

How to Write a Philosophy Paper [text]

Schick, Theodore and Lewis Vaughn. "Near-Death Experiences." In How to Think About Weird Things. New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. pp 307-323

Class lecture:

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Resources:

Figure 5.1 [PDF]

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