- This pseudo-Paper is intended as the mechanism to record time spent on the Note 'Immortality1' during my Thesis research, as from 2011.
- For the actual time recorded, click on "Paper Statistics" above.
Write-up2 (as at 06/07/2023 00:43:12): Immortality
Plug Note3
- Thesis Text:
- In the Biblical Christian tradition, God is the only being with natural immortality (see 1 Timothy 6:16 “God … who alone is immortal”, NIV), but Plato (and his Platonising Christian followers) had it that the (human) soul4 is also naturally immortal. The Biblical view – at least on some interpretations – is rather that God gives or denies immortality to whoever he wishes (and there is consequently no need to eternally roast the immortal souls of the wicked).
- St. Paul has it that “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53, NIV). This is in the context of the resurrection5 of the just dead6 (or the metamorphosis7 of the just living) at the return of Christ.
- In the context of identity theory, it is doubtful whether the very same thing can at one time be perishable and at another time immortal, because a thing’s persistence conditions8 are taken to be essential9 properties10 of the sort11 it is, and a single thing cannot change sort12,13.
- As such, (as "Johnston (Mark) - Surviving Death" notes), natural immortality of the soul14 is the only hope for post-mortem survival15. But this hope is itself dashed by the lack of empirical evidence for the existence of the substantial16 soul17, immortal or otherwise.
- It does seem incongruous to talk about post-mortem immortality – how can something that has died be immortal? The idea, no doubt, is that it is the body18 that the soul19 occupied that was mortal. Hence, the soul20 needs a new immortal body21 to be clothed with. That seems to be the Pauline picture, though debated by the “Conditional Immortality” people.
- The Transhumanists22 hope that Uploading23 to a computer24 might lead to indefinitely extended life25, though this is hardly immortality. Indefinite identity-preserving life extensions might be possible using repair-microbots.
- In all this, I’m talking about the persistence of the individual26. I’m not talking about “immortality” in the sense of “undying fame”. As Woody Allen quipped (I’m not sure where this is from, but see Woody Allen: Immortality) – “I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment”.
- "Williams (Bernard) - The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality" argues that we wouldn’t even want immortality, but I’m not convinced. However, a bad immortality – uploading27 to an evil computer28, for instance – would be worse than no immortality, though some (eg. Miguel De Unamuno) are not even convinced of that. This topic is covered further under the Makropulos Case29.
- Of course, if animalism30 is the correct account of personal identity, immortality is not on offer, though if the transhumanists31 succeed, and an alternative account of personal identity is correct, an indefinite extension of life might be possible.
Further Remarks:
- This is a sub-topic of Life after death32, the others being:-
- To these historical options we can now add the various hopes of:-
- I have some other notes on this and related topics as part of Philosophy of Religion36 and my Blog37, including:-
References
- Relevant Works cited above:
- "Johnston (Mark) - Surviving Death", 2010, Book, Read = 13%
- "Williams (Bernard) - The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality", 1999, Internal PDF Link, Read
- For a Page of Links39 to this Note, Click here. There’s a lot of interest (and much that’s irrelevant. This and the categorised reading-list require some pruning in order to fit to identity-related issues only.). I’ve not had time to process them yet.
- Works on this topic that I’ve actually read40, include the following:-
- Aeon:
- "Cave (Stephen) - Everlasting glory", 2014, Annotations, No Abstract, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Cave (Stephen) - Remember Herostratus", 2012, Annotations, No Abstract, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- General:
- "Badham (Paul) & Badham (Linda) - Immortality or Extinction: Introduction", 1984
- "Edwards (Paul) - Dr. Kubler-Ross, Dr. Moody, and the New Immortality Movement", 2002
- "Grossman (Lev), Kurzweil (Ray) - 2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal", 2011, Write-Up Note41, Annotations
- "Kagan (Shelly) - Immortality Part II; The value of life, Part I", 2007, External Link
- "Kagan (Shelly) - Plato, Part II: Arguments for the immortality of the soul", 2007, External Link
- "Kagan (Shelly) - Plato, Part III: Arguments for the immortality of the soul (cont.)", 2007, External Link
- "Kagan (Shelly) - Plato, Part IV: Arguments for the immortality of the soul (cont.)", 2007, External Link
- "Kagan (Shelly) - The badness of death, Part III; Immortality, Part I", 2007, External Link
- "Perry (John) - A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality", 1978, Book
- "Shoemaker (David) - Personal Identity and Immortality", 2009
- "Williams (Bernard) - The Makropulos Case: Reflections on the Tedium of Immortality", 1999, Internal PDF Link
- A further reading list might start with:-
- General:
- "Badham (Paul) & Badham (Linda) - Immortality or Extinction", 1984, Book, Read = 5%
- "Barr (James) - The Garden of Eden and the Hope of Immortality", 1992, Book, Read = 14%
- "Bostock (David) - The Soul and Immortality in Plato's Phaedo", 1986, No Abstract
- "Cullmann (Oscar) - Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead?", 1973, External Link, Internal PDF Link, Read = 11%
- "Edwards (Paul), Ed. - Immortality", 1997, Book, Read = 4%
- "Flew (Antony) - Merely Mortal?", 2000, Book, Read = 2%
- "Forrest (Peter) - The Tree of Life: Agency and Immortality in a Metaphysics Inspired by Quantum Theory", 2007, Read = 7%
- "Gillman (Neil) - The Death Of Death: Resurrection and Immortality in Jewish Thought", 2006 / 1997, Book, Read = 1%
- "Hick (John) - Death and Eternal Life", 1996, Book, Read = 1%
- "Hume (David) - On the Immortality of the Soul", 1783, No Abstract, External Link, Internal PDF Link
- "Johnston (Mark) - Surviving Death", 2010, Book, Read = 13%
- "MacIntosh (J.J.) - The Impossibility of Kantian Immortality", 1980, Internal PDF Link, Read = 7%
- "Martin (L. Michael) & Augustine (Keith) - The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death", 2015, Book, Read = 15%
- "Merricks (Trenton) - How to Live Forever Without Saving Your Soul: Physicalism and Immortality", 2001
- "Murray (Michael J.) & Rea (Michael) - Mind, body, and immortality", 2008, No Abstract
- "Nussbaum (Martha) - Mortal Immortals: Lucretius on Death and the Voice of Nature", 1989, Internal PDF Link, Read = 5%
- "Penelhum (Terence), Ed. - Immortality", 1973, Book, Read = 7%
- "Penny (Michael) - Immortality! When?", 2004, Book
- "Perrett (Roy W.) - Death and Immortality", 1987, Book, Read = 3%
- "Perrett (Roy W.) - Death and Immortality: Introduction", 1987, Read = 50%
- "Perrett (Roy W.) - Immortality", 1987
- "Perrett (Roy W.) - Regarding Immortality", 1986, Internal PDF Link, Read = 8%
- "Phillips (D.Z.) - Death and Immortality", 1970, Book, Read = 2%
- "Salmond (Stewart D.F.) - The Christian Doctrine of Immortality", 1901, Book
- "Shoemaker (Sydney) - Immortality and Dualism", 2003, No Abstract
- "Sutherland (Stewart R.) - Immortality and Resurrection", 1967, Internal PDF Link, Read = 25%
- "Tipler (Frank) - The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead", 1995, Book, Read = 2%
- For a list of Works that have been considered, but have missed the cut for inclusion in this Section of my Thesis, see the following:-
- Read: No items to list.
- Further Reading: No items to list.
- This is mostly a place-holder42.
In-Page Footnotes
Footnote 2:
- This is the write-up as it was when this Abstract was last output, with text as at the timestamp indicated (06/07/2023 00:43:12).
- Link to Latest Write-Up Note.
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)