Knowing Persons is an original study of Plato's account of personhood. For Plato, embodied persons are images of a disembodied ideal. The ideal person is a knower. Hence, the lives of embodied persons need to be understood according to Plato's metaphysics of imagery. For Gerson, Plato's account of embodied personhood is not accurately conflated with Cartesian dualism. Plato's dualism is more appropriately seen in the contrast between the ideal disembodied person and the embodied one than in the contrast between mind or soul and body.
In the 1990s great strides were taken in clarifying how the brain is involved in behaviors that, in the past, had seldom been studied by neuroscientists or psychologists. This book explores the progress begun during that momentous decade in understanding why we behave, think and feel the way we do, especially in those areas that interface with religion. What is happening in the brain when we have a religious experience? Is the soul a product of the mind which is, in turn, a product of the brain? If so, what are the implications for the Christian belief in an afterlife? If God created humans for the purpose of having a relationship with him, should we expect to find that our spirituality is a biologically evolved human trait? What effect might a disease such as Alzheimer's have on a person's spirituality and relationship with God? Neuroscience and psychology are providing information relevant to each of these questions, and many Christians are worried that their religious beliefs are being threatened by this research. Kevin Seybold attempts to put their concerns to rest by presenting some of the scientific findings coming from these disciplines in a way that is understandable yet non-threatening to Christian belief.
Hermeneutical Heidegger critically examines and confronts Heidegger's hermeneutical approach to philosophy and the history of philosophy. Heidegger's work, both early and late, has had a profound impact on hermeneutics and hermeneutical philosophy. The essays in this volume are striking in the way they exhibit the variety of perspectives on the development and role of hermeneutics in Heidegger's work, allowing a multiplicity of views on the nature of hermeneutics and hermeneutical philosophy to emerge. As Heidegger argues, the rigor and strength of philosophy do not consist in the development of a univocal and universal method, but in philosophy's ability to embrace—not just tolerate—the questioning of its basic concepts. The essays in Hermeneutical Heidegger are exemplars of this kind of rigor and strength.
A Spiritual Journey - A Love Story - A Search for Truth An extraordinary spiritual encounter has left psychotherapist Tessa Lynne in a quandary. Her intuition tells her to believe--her logical mind wants proof. A series of surreal events unfolds, forcing her to question her judgment and to examine her beliefs. Each time she thinks she knows the truth of her experience, she is tested again. Tessa is told of our life purpose, about life after death, and of a long-lost destiny, named Michael. Then she learns that he is dying. She reaches out to him spiritually and he sees her in a dream. They have visions of past lives, are surrounded by The Light. Is it possible that Michael might survive? Could their destinies be restored? Who holds that power? Events predicted to Tessa in 1995 have since come to pass. What she was told then resonates more strongly now, more than twenty years later. Discover why she was approached, learn more about the Invisible Choir, and use her story to reflect on the course of your own life journey.
Is death the end of our story, or do we go on? If life does continue after death, where and how will we live? What happens to us after we die is not only a matter of speculation, but also a matter of debate. This is particularly true within the church, and though some would like to believe that the issue has long been settled, it most certainly remains open for discussion. In The Death Myth, author and theologian Brian M. Rossiter investigates what the Bible actually says about the afterlife, and he carefully explains how an honest reflection on the traditional Christian view of death will show that this view is often misguided. This traditional view—that the deceased persist and live on as conscious immaterial souls—is a doctrine that while tenable may not cohere with scriptural truths about the nature of the soul and body, the timing of the resurrection, and the meaning of salvation. While many Christians believe that the human soul departs to either a place of bliss or a place of torment after death, few have truly evaluated the biblical teachings on the subject. More than that, the implications of our beliefs on the issue are rarely acknowledged. Can the soul live apart from the body? Do immaterial realms for the dead exist? Can ghosts or spirits communicate with the living? When these matters are deeply investigated, the conclusions may force us to reconsider everything we thought we knew about life after death and the very nature of our existence.
The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy ???The style is fresh and engaging, and it gives a broad and accurate picture of the western philosophical tradition. It is a pleasure to browse in, even if one is not looking for an answer to a particular question.??? David Pears ???Its entries manage to avoid the obscurities of an exaggerated brevity without stretching themselves out, as if seeking to embody whole miniature essays. In short it presents itself as a model of clarity and clarification.??? Alan Montefiore
Featuring over 1,200 topical entries arranged alphabetically, this encyclopedia provides diverse and detailed coverage of the related subjects of reincarnation and karma. Its in-depth examination ranges from ancient beliefs to those of the present, incorporating all relevant world cultures. A series of broad thematic entries cover foundational aspects while over a thousand highly focused entries deal with various societies and organizations which support the concepts of reincarnation and karma; specific religious groups, sects, and associations; key individuals both historic and modern; and related beliefs, concepts, and practices.
