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Date Posted: 17:18:04 10/17/04 Sun
Author: $$
Author Host/IP: 207.44.154.35
Subject: --
In reply to: -- 's message, "--" on 21:13:25 10/05/04 Tue

Is that Better?


>--
>
>>
>>
>>The friendly staff at Litkicks.com recently posted a
>>question regarding the existence or non-existence of
>>an "afterlife". Here is my response:
>>
>>Any rational, well-thoughtout answer to this
>>metaphysical chestnut will require a decision on
>>materialism vs. immaterialism. Though most
>>philosophers and brain scientists appear to hold to
>>non-mystical and anti-theological positions, there may
>>be some grounds to believe that consciousness may not
>>be entirely material. Philosopher David Chalmers (web
>>search him) argues that since there are facts about
>>consciousness that are not deducible from physical
>>facts, materialism is false:
>>
>>(1) There are truths about consciousness that are not
>>deducible from physical truths.
>>
>>(2) If there are truths about consciousness that are
>>not deducible from physical truths, then materialism
>>is false.
>>—
>>(3) Materialism is false.
>>
>>Verifying the first premise is of course the crux, and
>>the "hard problem" of consciousness that Chalmers
>>discusses. I am not sure how one goes about
>>establishing the truth of that first premise: is it a
>>purely scientific question? Let us assume that is
>>true. The argument does not necessarily imply God, or
>>immortality, or heaven or hell. Though admittedly not
>>a quantum neuro-scientist or whatever the
>>"consciousness experts" are termed these days, I tend
>>towards skepticism of any immaterial accounts of
>>consciousness, yet it is not logically impossible that
>>immaterial states of consciousness exist; and if these
>>states do exist then some form of "spiritual
>>incarceration," or, conversely, a spiritual reward, is
>>a possibility, however remote.
>>
>>We can quite easily conceive of a Hitler or Pol Pot in
>>some form of hell, or perdition, or Tartarus. Some
>>would situate George W. Bush there (though his sin is
>>more of stupidity perhaps than evil); others might
>>conceive of say Rosie O'Donnell in some uncomfortable
>>hot vat. Hell may be formulated perhaps on ethical and
>>logical grounds, as well as religious grounds. Dante
>>was more than willing to put hypocritical Christians
>>in hell--simply ingesting the eucharist each and every
>>Sunday is certainly not sufficient to gain admittance
>>into the realms of the Blessed.
>>
>>Thus I object to the notion of automatic forgiveness
>>that so many fundamentalist morons would have us
>>believe is true. What about virtuous pagans, such as
>>LitKickers? In Dante's Inferno, the greek philosophers
>>were placed in Elysium, not in Hell, but more like
>>Purgatory, where it's sort of gloomy, but the light of
>>reason was always observable. Yet the pagans never
>>escape from Purgatory. Purgatory is really not a bad
>>idea--remember that Professor that gave you a B when
>>you definitely earned an A? Perhaps after 5000 years
>>or so, when her spiritual errors are purged, she
>>crawls out of her hole of excrement and is allowed
>>admittance into the bottom rings of Heaven. If a
>>person lived a fairly ethical and rational life, then
>>he or she may be rewarded, sort of like being admitted
>>to the cosmic fraternity, and joins the "elect"--Alpha
>>Beta Epsilon, or whatever.
>>
>>Virtuous pagans and skeptics, say Thomas Jefferson or
>>Einstein, thus are admitted into some spiritual land
>>of the blesssed, regardless of their doubts of
>>Scripture; whereas moronic violent believers (say
>>Falwell) are not. The parallel worlds hypothesis of
>>some quantum physicists also offers interesting
>>afterlife scenarios; though I think a Newton, whose
>>constants and equations, for the most part, still
>>accurately map the mechanics of planetary motion, is
>>ranked much higher than irrationalists and
>>equivocators such as Derrida and the post-modernists,
>>who may be hard-pressed to gain entrance into
>>Purgatory. Is knowledge of integrals, set theory,
>>special and general relativity, etc. a requirement for
>>access to upper echleons of Paradise? That is not
>>implausible. Is the ability to conjugate French verbs
>>a requirement? Membership in the Rotary Club? Have in
>>your possession at the time of death a well-behaved
>>wifey and kids, as well as property--Welcome to the
>>Pearly Gates Country Club: ONLY WHITE MALE PROPERTY
>>OWNERS ALLOWED. Or perhaps there are heavens and hells
>>for everyone, of all religious or non-religious
>>creeds, a sort of pantheistic play of forces, where in
>>one realm, a Derrida or a William Burroughs is near
>>some linguistic paradise, and in another they are
>>being looked over by jackal-faced demons
>>characteristic of the egyptian underworld......
>>
>>As an aside, I must say I find Dante's Inferno quite
>>entertaining. I especially enjoy contemplating the
>>lower levels, the Malebolge, where the Hypocrites and
>>Betrayers are located, quite a bit lower than those
>>guilty of mere sins of the flesh (whores and
>>sodomites, etc.). Signior Dante obviously felt that
>>those who had betrayed their country, their
>>countrymen, and/or children were near the bottom of
>>Hell. There seem to be quite a few corrupt Catholic
>>clergymen and noblemen, assassins and murderers as
>>well. The Prophet Mohammed is down there, as are
>>numerous other heretics, as well as corrupt judges
>>such as Caiaphas. In the icy center of the hell-lake
>>Cocytus, Brutus, the assassin of Julius Caesar, and
>>his cohort Cassius are being gnawed on by Lucifer,
>>their heads out; Judas Iscariot of course is being
>>swallowed eternally head-first by the massive Lucifer,
>>who, in a mockery of the Trinity, has 3 mouths.
>>
>>Contemporary professionals--Liberal and
>>Conservative--should absorb a bit of this. Those
>>academics and professionals who would consistently
>>violate Jeffersonian principles of meritocracy (though
>>sworn to uphold such principles), reject logic and
>>reason, and dismiss any notions of objective ethics or
>>justice, as well as blithely ignore the general
>>humanistic teachings of Scripture, those are our
>>contemporary Caiaphases, who, in some perdition,
>>considered either from a secular or sacred standpoint,
>>art to be damned.....

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