Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Theory and Criticism

Supervisor

Baruss, Imants

2nd Supervisor

Calcagno, Antonio

Co-Supervisor

Abstract

This project is a philosophical investigation into near-death experiences (NDEs). It attempts to answer the central question: Are near-death experiences veridical? The aim of my work is to defend the veridicality of near-death experiences within the framework of idealism. However, this aim is not achieved simply by adopting an idealist standpoint. Instead, I present arguments for the reason this idealist standpoint is necessary. First, I argue that the traditional way of assessing near-death experiences is often oversimplified and carries an unnecessary bias in favour of a materialist interpretation, which eventually sets it up for a failure to demonstrate that an afterlife state can exist. Once this materialist bias is examined, I make an attempt to level the playing field, so to speak, to see where this equal level can take the discussion. Ultimately, I argue that it is best to fit all evidence and arguments into a theory that best explains near-death experiences; and, the theory that best explains these experiences is philosophical idealism. At the end, I provide examples of this theory and also a synthesized version of the best imaginable theory to show in what way or ways these idealist theories can explain near-death experiences and in what way or ways near-death experiences can be demonstrated to be veridical in nature.

Summary for Lay Audience

This project is a philosophical investigation into near-death experiences (NDEs). It attempts to answer the central question: Are near-death experiences veridical? "Veridical" comes from the Latin words verus and dicere, which means truth telling. Instead of using the word "real", which may be easily misunderstood, I use the word "veridical" to ask in what way(s) near-death experiences can be said to be truth telling.

The aim of my work is to defend the veridicality of near-death experiences within the framework of idealism. Philosophical idealism, roughly stated, is the theory that reality is consciousness or mind-created and possibly consciousness or mind-dependent.

However, the aim of my work is not achieved simply by adopting an idealist standpoint. Instead, I present arguments for the reason this idealist standpoint is necessary. First, I argue that the traditional way of assessing near-death experiences is often oversimplified and carries an unnecessary bias in favour of a materialist interpretation, which eventually sets it up for a failure to demonstrate that an afterlife state can exist. Here, the materialist interpretation refers to the theory of philosophical materialism according to which reality is strictly made of matter and nothing exists above and beyond matter.

Once this materialist bias is examined, I make an attempt to level the playing field, so to speak, to see where this equal level can take the discussion. Ultimately, I argue that it is best to fit all evidence and arguments into a theory that best explains near-death experiences; and, the theory that best explains these experiences is philosophical idealism.

At the end, I provide examples of this theory and also a synthesized version of the best imaginable theory to show in what way or ways these idealist theories can explain near-death experiences and in what wayor ways near-death experiences can be demonstrated to be veridical in nature. Since, according to this theory, consciousness or the mind is the basic building block of reality, simply put, there is life after death.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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