"This body, this body holding me
Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me
Feeling eternal, all this pain is an illusion."
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| Tool's Parabola- https://youtu.be/-_nQhGR0K8M |
My Observation:
John Perry's "A Dialogue in Personal Identity and Immortality" (1978), is not for the close-minded. It is a dialogue between three people: Gretchen Weirob, Sam Miller, and Dave Cohen. Gretchen was involved in a motorcycle accident, which left her in critical condition. Her chaplain and longtime friend Sam Miller, as well as her former student Dave Cohen came to visit her during the last three days of her earthly life. Throughout these three days, an intense and thought-provoking dialogue had taken place. As readers of this dialogue, we can see the conflicts of physicality vs. the spirit, philosophy vs. religion, believing in something vs. believing in nothing, and many more.
Honestly while reading this, I could not formulate a solid thought of what I was reading. In all seriousness, I am still confused. However, I did grasp onto a few concepts. One in particular is the concept of identity.
What is identity to you?
The topic of identity itself is a phenomena that philosophy and science has not yet figured out. When I say 'identity,' I am not talking about what society labels you, I am talking about all the aspects of your whole being. I am talking about the body, the soul, and the spirit. I sat down with my friend Lily Nti-Kyeremeh and asked her the question "As a Christian, how do you perceive death and the spirit?" Being that she is Ghana born, with a strong background in Christianity and has a few years on me in age, I wanted to see how her answer would compare to mine, as her American born counterpart with a not so strong religious background. While discussing the proposed question, she said a statement that caught my attention:
"The spirit is at war with your body, the spirit and soul are not at war with each other. My soul and spirit is what remains after I die, and I'll get a new body during the rapture."
So, what is identity? Do we exclude our earthly being and only consider our spirit and soul? What is the spirit? What is the soul? These are questions that science can't even answer. Religion makes attempts to explain it, but what is that to a nonbeliever?
In my other blog post, I mentioned that I enjoy listening to the band Tool. Well actually...I am quite a huge fan of them. While reading Perry's dialogue, I immediately thought of their song "Parabola." This is one of my favorite songs, not only because of the grotesque, and psychedelic creativity within in the music video, but also because of the simplistic yet multifaceted lyrics.
"We barely remember who or what came before."
You know when you have that feeling of Deja vú, or that sense of an event happening before? Does it mean that your spirit and soul have been here before? Whatever it is, maybe it is apart of your identity. Considering Lily's concept of "the rapture," maybe it is possible that there were many raptures before, and our spirits and souls found a new earthly body each and every time. Maybe there is another 'you' in another realm. Maybe our dreams and memories are a indication that we exist in multiple realms. Or maybe, once death approaches, there is no afterlife. I wish I had the answers, but I am lost myself. The question of identity will always be a question unanswered. So, did the stone (death) actually kill the two birds (the spirit and soul)? Maybe it is best to believe in something, rather than nothing at all.
Prompt:
Are you the same person today that you were when you were 10 years old? Why? What consequences does your answer have for questions about survival, memory, and responsibility?
The answer to this question is not as easy as I thought. Of course, I am not the same person as I were at 10 years old, but I can only answer that in terms of my earthly being. I obviously don't look like my 10 year old self, I don't act or think like I did 9 years ago, and I barely remember anything. But in terms of my survival after death, my memory, and responsibility I am not sure of the consequences. Although, I am not the same person as I was 9 years ago, does that mean that the integrity of the "immaterial" aspects of my being has changed? I think that my subjective experiences has contributed to my survival, memory, and responsibility. These experiences have contributed to my survival because I know how to interact with others and how to live a life that would cause my conscious/spirit to be at ease. In terms of memory, we can think about these experiences in terms of psychology and Freud's theory of consciousness. Perhaps, I unknowingly chose to remember certain events. Or maybe my environment at the time I was 10 has had an impact on my 'wisdom' and maturity. Lastly, I think my responsibility changes constantly because with every event that we experience, we learn something which changes how we may view or feel about something. All of this contributes to my identity because I start to become one with my soul and spirit. You begin to realize what agrees and what disagrees with your spirit and soul.
Resources:
Hi Terri!
ReplyDeleteI think your view on how everything contributes to identity. Learning what agrees and disagrees with your spirit and your soul is a very insightful way to acknowledge growth and becoming one with yourself.
Hi Sage,
DeleteThank you for your comment!
Hi Terri,
ReplyDeleteRemember the part of Perry's dialog where the interlocutors discuss the possibility of multiple copies of a person? They are considering the possibility that after the death of Weirob's body, God could create a Heavenly being who with duplicate brain states to that of Weirob's brain upon death. Miller suggests that this line of thinking shows that it is at least possible that Weirob could survive death in a meaningful sense. But Weirob is unconvinced and retorts: "If God could create one person in Heaven, and by designing her after me, make her me, why could he not make two such bodies, and cause his transfer of information into both of them?" She then wonders if both of those Heavenly persons would be her and suspects that something has gone wrong with the proposed account of identity.
In your blog post, you take up the possibility of existence after death in the form of the survival of the soul and re-embodiment. How would you respond to the worries that Weirob raises regarding duplicate Heavenly persons? And where do your responses leave us with respect to the question of survival after the death of the body?
P.S. I've been an Alex Grey fan for many years (the painter whose work is often featured by Tool). Have you checked out his Chapel of Sacred Mirrors? See: https://www.alexgrey.com/art
Hi Dr. Nora,
DeleteI believe that there is life after death. It is something completely different from the earthly life as we know it, but our spirits and souls will be transferred. However, I am not sure if the vessel (the human body) will be the same. Perhaps we will take another bodily form. In response to Weirob, I would ensure her that everyone is one of a kind. We were created with uniqueness. No matter how similar one may be to her, there are still many differences. Therefore when we die, our earthly life ends but our individuality persists. Now, this answer may lead us to a more dense conversation of where do our soul and spirit go after death, and what are the standards in which one may reach in order for this to happen.
Sidenote: Thank you so much for the reference! I have explored his artwork and it embodies me as a person. I love the grim and philosophical aspects to Grey's work. He is now one of my favorite artist.