scholarly journals The evidential value of near-death experiences for belief in life after death.

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life After Death ◽  
Evidential Value ◽  
Near Death Experiences

The Religious Functions of Near-Death Experiences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Schlieter
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Near Death Experiences

This final chapter secures the result of the survey by discussing the religious functions of near-death experiences for affected individuals, but also the functions of the reports for the audience. It outlines (a) ontological, (b) epistemic, (c) intersubjective, and (d) moral aspects. It has been argued that experiencers feel closer to God, are less attracted to religion, and are significantly more inclined to believe in life after death. A function of the narratives consists in the claim that, in atheistic and secular times, individual religious experience is still possible. Several reports argue with a copresence of life and death. Discussing cognitivist approaches, the chapter finally concludes that, given the Latin etymology of “experience,” harboring, among others, the meaning of “being exposed to danger” or “passing a test,” near-death experiences can be seen as a match for conceptions of religious experience as a transformative, gained by surviving a life-threatening danger.

The Role of Spirituality in Integrative Preventive Medicine

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary E. Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Preventive Medicine ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Paradigm Change ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Spirituality And Health ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Near Death Experiences

Substantial research documents a positive association between religious practice and improved health and well-being. Research on the relationship between spirituality and health is less developed but also positive. Generally speaking, Western science and medicine explain these positive associations via psychological and social mechanisms rather than spiritual (or “metaphysical”) ones. However, contemporary theory and research in consciousness science, including research on near-death experiences and life after death, are pointing to a profound paradigm change in science, shifting from conventional materialist models of nature and the cosmos to postmaterialist models. This chapter introduces the reader to the emerging postmaterialist paradigm in science and considers some of its important implications for understanding and applying spirituality in integrative preventive medicine.

Interpretations, Implications, and Conclusions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Shushan
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Analytical Comparison ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Attitudes Toward Death ◽  
Revitalization Movements ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Interdisciplinary Theory ◽  
Near Death Experiences ◽  
Afterlife Beliefs

An analytical comparison is made of the near-death experiences (NDEs), afterlife beliefs, and myths in the three regions, in relation to their shamanic practices, funerary rituals, revitalization movements, and attitudes toward death and the dead. In order to explain the cross-cultural similarities and differences in all their manifestations, a comprehensive interdisciplinary theory is put forth. The experiential source hypothesis is combined with elements from the psychological, cognitive, social, and historical sciences. Beyond the three regions, despite general thematic similarities worldwide, certain NDE themes occur only in indigenous societies, while some occur in seemingly random unrelated pairs of cultures. Philosophical implications for beliefs in life after death are explored in light of the cross-cultural evidence, and models of the nature of a possible afterlife are discussed. The implications of the study for contemporary historiographical and epistemological issues are also put forth.

The Human Experience of Death or, What Can We Learn from Near-Death Experiences?

1983 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Noyes
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Near Death Experiences

As a result of serious accidents and illnesses many persons undergo death-rebirth experiences. The changes in attitudes, personality, and beliefs that sometimes follow these experiences reflect rebirth and reveal a fundamental human strategy for coping with the threat of death. Many persons report that this threat is replaced by a sense of aliveness and a belief in life after death. These experiences appear to have much to teach us about the human encounter with death and to have great therapeutic potential, providing we can learn how to use them.

scholarly journals 再論瀕死經驗的可信性——探索一些常見的質疑

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-84
Author(s):  
Kai Man KWAN
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Scientific Explanations ◽  
Reasonable Belief ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Digital Commons ◽  
Death Experience ◽  
Near Death Experiences ◽  
Academic Debate

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.筆者在2016 年撰文探討瀕死經驗 (Near-death Experience-NDE) 的可信性，指出還沒有充分證據支持「醫學科學或心理學的理論能充分和全面解釋NDE 的現象」這觀點，我也認為「NDE 的存在是不能抹殺的，而且NDE 似乎提供了某程度證據顯示，心靈的存在能獨立於身體存在，所以死後生命的可能性是不能輕率否定的。」但我從未說過我能絕對證明NDE 的可信性，也肯定「學術的爭辯還會繼續，更多的研究也須進行」。劉彥方與冼偉林對我作出回應，且基本上採取批判的態度，及偏向懷疑瀕死經驗的可信性。我在此文對他們作出回應，一方面指出他們對我的一些誤解，另一方面繼續探討他們對瀕死經驗的質疑，例如瀕死經驗個案的可靠性、對瀕死經驗的科學解釋以及一些方法論問題等等。我再次重申，我並沒有宣稱我能絕對證明NDE 的可信性，但認為「相信最少有一些NDE 是可靠的」，是一個合理的信念(reasonable belief) ，而劉彥方與冼偉林的批判，並未能推翻這點。The author argued for the credibility of at least some near-death experiences (NDEs) in a previous paper (Kwan 2016), pointing out the lack of sufficient evidence to support the claim that physiological or psychological theories had already fully explained the entire NDE phenomenon. The author proposes that we should not dismiss the existence of NDEs, and states that they seem to offer some support for the ability of the soul to exist independently of the body. Thus, we should not dismiss the possibility of life after death. However, the author has never claimed that he can absolutely demonstrate the veridicality of NDE, and he has explicitly stated that the academic debate will continue and more research should be conducted.In their previous writings, Dr. Joe Lau and Dr. William Sin doubted the credibility of NDEs.In this paper, the author responds to their criticisms, clarifying some of their misunderstandings and further exploring their doubts about NDE, such as the reliability of NDE reports, the scientific explanations of NDE, and some methodological issues.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 177 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

scholarly journals Near-Death Experiences

1996 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan J Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
Drug Induced ◽  
Life After Death ◽  
Outright Rejection ◽  
Popular View ◽  
Near Death Experiences

Reactions to claims of near-death experiences (NDE) range from the popular view that this must be evidence for life after death, to outright rejection of the experiences as, at best, drug induced hallucinations or, at worse, pure invention. Twenty years, and much research, later, it is clear that neither extreme is correct.

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