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Monday, March 10, 2008

Death and Existence

In this post, I would like to consider the question of whether people sometimes continue to exist after they have died.

Let me first make some introductory remarks in an attempt to clarify this question. It appears that some things begin existing at one time and cease to exist at another time. Consider, for instance, the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center did not exist in 1700 and it does not exist in 2008. However, there were times between 1700 and 2008 when the World Trade Center existed. So it seems that the World Trade Center began to exist at some time between 1700 and 2008 and also ceased to exist at some (distinct) time between 1700 and 2008.


Similar remarks apply to living things. Consider any currently existing tree. That tree did not exist 1,000,000 years ago but it does exist today. So at some time between 1,000,000 years ago and today, that tree began to exist. Furthermore, if we were to cut down and burn the tree, it would not exist at the end of that process. Thus, there would be a time between now and the time at which the process has ended at which the tree ceased to exist.


But in addition to ceasing to exist, living things also die. For instance, if one takes a currently existing living tree, cuts it down, and burns it, then that tree will die at some point during that process.


Thus, for any living thing, we can consider the time that it dies and ask whether it also ceases to exist at that time. Thus, for instance, consider some tree that was actually cut down and burned at some point in the past and consider the time at which it died. We can ask whether it ceased to exist at that time in addition to dying at that time.

Similar remarks apply to people. People die. (My maternal grandmother, for instance, died.) So we can ask whether every person ceases to exist when he or she dies or whether instead some people continue to exist after they die.

I think that some people continue to exist after they die. In fact, I think that this is a relatively common view. However, my reasons for thinking that some people continue to exist after they die differ, I think, from the reasons that many others would give for thinking so. Let me explain.

As far as I can tell, many of those who think that some people continue to exist after they die think that this is so because they believe that certain traditional religious doctrines are true. In particular, they think that my maternal grandmother continued to exist after she died because she is now either in Heaven or in Hell (or in Purgatory). In addition, they think that the same is true of other people. In fact, many who accept these traditional religious doctrines think that every person continues to exist after he or she dies.

However, I reject the traditional religious views on which this reason for thinking that some people continue to exist after they die is based. I deny the existence of Heaven and Hell (and Purgatory) and so I think that no one who dies goes to those places.

My reasons for thinking that some people exist after they die are entirely non-religious. Here's why I think that some people continue to exist after they die. My maternal grandmother was a person. But my maternal grandmother was buried after she died. So my maternal grandmother did not cease to exist when she died. Thus, some people continue to exist after they die.

Here's a more formal presentation of my argument:
1. My maternal grandmother was buried after she died.
2. If my maternal grandmother was buried after she died, then some people continue to exist after they die.
3. Therefore, some people continue to exist after they die.
This argument is valid; that is, if claims (1) and (2) are true, then claim (3) must be true as well. So I will now turn to giving reasons to think that each of these claims is true.

Why think that (1) is true? Well, a few days after my maternal grandmother died, my father said "Your grandma is being buried tomorrow". And what my father said was true. But in order for what my father said to be true, it must be true that my maternal grandmother was buried the day after he said it. But that day was after my maternal grandmother died. Thus, my maternal grandmother was buried after she died.

It is easy to see that (2) is true as well. For my maternal grandmother could not have been buried at a time unless she existed at that time. However, if she had ceased to exist when she died, she would not have existed after she died. And my maternal grandmother was a person. Thus, if my maternal grandmother was buried after she died, then some people continue to exist after they die.

Here is a more formal statement of this reasoning in favor of (2). Suppose that my maternal grandmother was buried after she died. If my maternal grandmother was buried after she died, then my maternal grandmother existed after she died, since if she did not exist after she died, she couldn't have been buried then. Thus, my maternal grandmother existed after she died. But if my maternal grandmother existed after she died, then my maternal grandmother continued to exist after she died. Thus, my maternal grandmother continued to exist after she died. But my maternal grandmother was a person. Thus, some people continue to exist after they die. So, on the supposition that my maternal grandmother was buried after she died, some people continue to exist after they die. Therefore, if my maternal grandmother was buried after she died, then some people continue to exist after they die; that is, (2) is true.

In this post, I have offered an argument in favor of the conclusion that some people continue to exist after they have died. I have also given reasons to think that both of the claims made in support of that conclusion are true. Since the argument is valid, anyone who disagrees with the conclusion must also deny one of those claims and thus find fault with the reasons I gave to think that they are true. Furthermore, even those who agree with the conclusion may think that one of the claims made in support of the conclusion is false. So they too must find some fault with the reasons I gave to think that those claims are true. I fully expect that some people will think that the argument I have given is unsuccessful and that they will have objections to it. However, rather than addressing those objections here, I will wait until they are raised to respond to them.

[I should mention that my thinking on these matters has been greatly influenced by Fred Feldman's discussion of them in Chapter 6 of his book Confrontations with the Reaper. I highly recommend that chapter to anyone with an interest in the questions addressed in this post. In addition, I recommend the whole book to anyone interested in philosophical questions concerning life and death.]