death and immortality rn106 exam 1

Ernest Becker

(1924-1974) -American cultural anthropologist and interdisciplinary thinker and writer -Wrote several books on human motivation and behavior, most notably the 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning The Denial of Death -Said that if individuals were to fully understand their future death, they would be overwhelmed with anxiety and despair -argued that in order to deal with death, individuals suppress their fear by striving for the heroic and participating in activities throughout their life that will allow their legacy to live on. Somewhat gives them a form of immortality. -fear of death is transmuted into the "mainspring for human activity" - Argues that human civilization is just one big mechanism to avoid death and avoid our mortality.

Enkidu

- - Main Character in the novel Gilgamesh. Created with clay and water by the Goddess of creation, Aruru, to humble Gilgamesh. After Enkidu's death, Gilgamesh is inspired to escape death and obtain immortality. his death brings about this quest from Gilgamesh to go after immortality enkidu changed gilgamesh because he made him a more compassionate king and helped him transition as someone

Muhammad

- - Muhammad was the founder of Islam. He was a prophet and messenger to God sent to present and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other prophets. While at Mt. Hira, the angel Gabriel from 610-623. Recorded in Quran. In the Islamic faith, before death, you are visited by the Angel of Death symbolizing that you cannot escape death he was a prophet according to the people (muslims) he was the last and most important prophet abraham - long prophets preaching he is the seal of the prophets to encapsulate (summarize) the idea of monotheism prophets that always try to rejuvenate or renew monotheism Muhammad sees himself as someone who tries to turn his people onto the straight path toward god

World of Forms

the intelligible that stands above the visible world and gives it being. - The World of Forms is according to Socrates, a world of permanence and reliability. The World of Forms is where true and reliable knowledge rests. Apparently, our soul is from the World of Forms, and since everything in the world of Forms is perfect and everlasting, our soul is immortal. Therefore, while our body may be mortal, our soul is immortal. we are able to identify things that are the same but they are all different how can we identify the same thing but know they are differnt Mom and dad love their kid and then a couple loves eachother there are these forms plato believes that we comes from this world of forms our psyche comes from the world on forms we have seen these form we just have to remember because were were there beofre we came to earth, we have to go back people that have spent theor lives thinking about the forms "what is true love, what is a true triangle" are people worried about developing their psyche and soul. not focused on their body. they will go straight back to the world of forms we have come from the world of forms and its trying to go back platos idea of what happenes after death has to do with the world of forms

Corinthians

Where resurrection is defined and proven by Jesus' resurrection. - book of the new testament, letter to the church of Corinth, written by the Apostle Paul - Written by Paul 54-55 AD - Deals with ideas of resurrection and the afterlife and sin - With the death of Jesus, he provided the rest of humanity with immortality by believing in Jesus and his resurrection. Not physical immortality but spiritual immortality Passage of hope, christianity. in this letter there is a chapter dedicated to the idea of resurrection importance of resurrection for christianity two major aspects: 1. without the doctrine (belief) of resurrection christianity is meaningless 2. what our bodies are going to be like when we resurrect body is uncorrectable body no longer mortal spiritual body - physical body with some improvements

Soma

- The human body as a fleshly mortal object. It is identified with sensation and associated with the material world. The psyche is tangled within the Soma. The mortal physical part of the body. According to Socrates, while the Soma is perishable and can die, the soul is immortal - People should pursue knowledge instead of bodily pleasures.

"Empty Tomb"

- people visited Jesus's tomb and saw that it was empty because he had resurrected, Galgatha (location, outside Jerusalem) - A key event of the death narrative of Jesus Christ (Jesus of Nazareth, crucifixion 30AD) After the crucifixion and burial, his tomb is found empty by women The empty tomb illustrates that the resurrection was not only spiritual but also physical Therefore, the body and soul are intertwined and BOTH resurrect People ignored the women who found the empty tomb until the disciples began to have post-death encounters After Jesus was crucified, his tomb was found empty which led to the idea of his resurrection 3 days AD after he dies he resurrects very symbolic for christianity symbolizes Jesus physical resurrection but it symbolizes salvation and conquering of death related because Jesus offers immortality back to humans

Resurrection

-- Concept of coming back to life after death. An example is Jesus resurrection from the dead in Christianity. Important to death and immortality because many people are not sure if it is a material body resurrection of a spiritual resurrection -In all 3 of the Abrahamic traditions Happens on or after the Day of Judgment Later Judaism: souls from Sheol are reunited with body to become a person again Christianity: body is transformed into a spiritual body upon resurrection and go to heaven or hell Islam: souls from Barzakh reunite with body and go to heaven or hell Bodily Resurrection: God will raise the martyred sons to new life: will give them back, in spirit and body, the body they forfeited to the point of death The acceptance of the notion of reward and punishment in the afterlife Resurrection is a collective and individual experience. It connotes the redemption of a whole people

Utnapishtim

-A character in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the worlds longest surviving literary work from ancient Iraq. -Translated to Akkadian language around 1200 CE. -He was granted immortality by the gods for preserving the seed of man through a flood. Gilgamesh goes on a journey to find Utnapishtim in hopes of finding the answer to immortality. Instead, he learns to accept his fate and become a better king because Utnapishtim scolds Gilgamesh for leaving his people and being selfish. - Character in the Epic of Gilgamesh who is tasked to leave behind his worldly possessions and create a giant ship. He is gifted immortality. In Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh tries to find Utnapishtim to find the secret to immortality but is told there is none. However Utnapishtim informs Gilgamesh that the true key to immortality is through families, cities and culture which endures longer than human - Death is inevitable mortal man who tells gilgamesh to stay awake for 7 days and his wife tells him to find the plant and he falls asleep again

Day of Judgement

-An important day in the Islam religion. -Muslims believe that this is the day where a person is judged on his or her life actions. When they die they will be sent to Paradise or Hellfire based on their beliefs. -Nakir and Munkar ask three questions at the grave: "Who is your Lord? What is your religion? What is your faith about this person (Muhammad)?" -in the abrahamic religions, a day where their god is coming back to the world and judging whether they are good enough for heaven - All three abrahamic traditions (christianity, Judaism, islam) have a day of Judgment after you die determining if you get reward or punishment in the afterlife. Judgment day generally catastrophic. Fire falls from sky, beasts on earth, end of normal life. Righteousness protects those who believe. common in all religions, after you die you are put in front of the gods and based on how your life was, you'll either go to heaven or hell islam - only one that had very specific details - 3 excerpts from the Quran in lecture - sumegy reading - bodily resurrection -angels that come to ask 3 questions to the dead people - day of judgement is the same day as resurrection christianity and judaism - don't really know what it will look like besides what you did on earth to determine your final destiny

Abrahamic traditions

-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered the Abrahamic religions because they all recognize Abraham as their first prophet. They are the 3 monotheistic religions and share a common heritage but have many differences. Judaism was founded 1000 BCE - 150 BCE, then Christianity 30 CE - 200 CE, and finally Islam in 610 - 630 CE. - Judaism, Christianity Islam all claim lineage to abraham, "father of faiths" Christianity = Heaven, Hell, Purgatory (only Catholicism). - Judaism = Sheol, until judgment day when your dust and breath of life will be reunited - Islam = Paradise or hell. Fate determined by faith in Allah (god) and if you lived a godly life - All stem from the same geographical area Monotheistic - all worship the God of Abraham. trace their religious heritage back to prophet Abraham. Abrahamic traditions have some concepts of an afterlife, or a continuation of the soul after death. Judaism (7th century BCE) - Abraham is important because Abraham is the first person who made a covenant (agreement) with God so that his descendants are the chosen ones of God - he is the founding father of judiasm christianity (1st century AD) - abraham is important because christianity comes from judiasm christians believe to be spritual decendants of abraham islam (7th Century AD) - abraham is important because he had two sons: isaac - who led the jewish people (new testament) ishmael - which is where muhammad comes from he doesn't reject the old and new testament, he just reinterprets

Mesopotamia

-Where tablets of The Epic of Gilgamesh was found(1200 BC) -Region in West Asia ; first city-state ; Sumerians -. In Mesopotamia, they believed in an afterlife where spirits live in the underworld as ghosts. According to Enkidu, the shades sit in the darkness eating clay and dust

Psyche

Comes from the world of forms. Defining substance and principle of the human being. It is identified with reason. - An immortal, immaterial soul which is the defining substance and principle of a human being. It is identified with Reason and it comes from the world of Forms. Psyche stands in opposition to Soma and split after death. Philosophers have a cleaner split . Dying is the purification of the psyche from the soma Greek word appears in plato and The New Testament

Sheol

First temple period: neutral place that all jews' ruah (breath of life) go to when they die. Second temple period: Judaism: A place where god could resurrect good people. Greek cultural influence - Sheol is in the Hebrew Bible and it is a place of darkness to which all dead go. Both the righteous and unrighteous regardless of moral choices made in life, a place of stillness and darkness cut from life and God. - Remember that the idea that the soul will leave sheol and be rescued by God (resurrected with the body) is most commonly understood as a later Judaism understanding. In early Judaism, the concept of rescue and resurrection is not entirely clear! You should make that distinction in your answer! vagye jewish concept for an after life take away all concepts of heaven in hell and think of it as an illusian it is not based on judgement similar to christinity underworld so if the body and the breath of god only consists in combination then what happens with this other part? jews that refer to fetuses as human being but not obtaining the same value as someone who alive breathing . women has the more rights than the baby judiasm values when soul and body are connected its not a proper person when the soul and body arent combined transition state everyone goes there when you die when your dead your dead and that is where your spirit goes

Messiah

Hebrew for "the anointed one" or the one chosen to lead and save the world. In Christianity, after Jesus died, he became to be known as the messiah. In judaism, the messiah is a future Jewish king. - APOCALYPTICISM: a time will come when a messiah will lead people through a cataclysmic age, the martyred dead will be resurrected, a new world order in which the righteous will take their place Judaism - for jewish people Jesus was not their messiah and they are still waiting Jesus did not uphold what the messiah is supposed to come from King David and they are supposed to do a bunch of things like reunite nations and people and that did not happen when Jesus got there very important social role Christianity - very important spiritual role it doesn't have to overtake government and bring justice to the world the messiah just has to relieve sins

hadith

Islam - record of sayings from Muhammad, moral guidance

Cave Allegory

Platos theory about human perception. he says knowledge obtained through the senses is no more than an opinion. This is shown by diagram of shadows and prisoners. - Proposed by plato (428 - 348 BC) -Prisoners are watching a world on the wall of a cave (a puppet show) and it's all the prisoners know until one day one of them breaks free from his chains and goes up and sees the puppet show going on and goes outside of the cave and sees reality. When he tries to tell the rest of the prisoners what he has they don't believe him -Plato claimed that in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning. - By seeking knowledge, we will be able to escape the material world and get our psyche to reunite with the world of forms. Reality isn't always what it seems like. 1. Plato realizes that the general run of humankind can think, and speak, etc., without (so far as they acknowledge) any awareness of his realm of Forms. 2. The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain this. 3. In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see. 4. Such prisoners would mistake appearance for reality. They would think the things they see on the wall (the shadows) were real; they would know nothing of the real causes of the shadows. So when the prisoners talk, what are they talking about? If an object (a book, let us say) is carried past behind them, and it casts a shadow on the wall, and a prisoner says "I see a book," what is he talking about? 5. He thinks he is talking about a book, but he is really talking about a shadow. But he uses the word "book." What does that refer to? 6. Plato gives his answer at line (515b2). The text here has puzzled many editors, and it has been frequently emended. The translation in Grube/Reeve gets the point correctly: "And if they could talk to one another, don't you think they'd suppose that the names they used applied to the things they see passing before them?" 7. Plato's point is that the prisoners would be mistaken. For they would be taking the terms in their language to refer to the shadows that pass before their eyes, rather than (as is correct, in Plato's view) to the real things that cast the shadows. If a prisoner says "That's a book" he thinks that the word "book" refers to the very thing he is looking at. But he would be wrong. He's only looking at a shadow. The real referent of the word "book" he cannot see. To see it, he would have to turn his head around. 8. Plato's point: the general terms of our language are not "names" of the physical objects that we can see. They are actually names of things that we cannot see, things that we can only grasp with the mind. 9. When the prisoners are released, they can turn their heads and see the real objects. Then they realize their error. What can we do that is analogous to turning our heads and seeing the causes of the shadows? We can come to grasp the Forms with our minds. 10. Plato's aim in the Republic is to describe what is necessary for us to achieve this reflective understanding. But even without it, it remains true that our very ability to think and to speak depends on the Forms. For the terms of the language we use get their meaning by "naming" the Forms that the objects we perceive participate in. 11. The prisoners may learn what a book is by their experience with shadows of books. But they would be mistaken if they thought that the word "book" refers to something that any of them has ever seen. Likewise, we may acquire concepts by our perceptual experience of physical objects. But we would be mistaken if we thought that the concepts that we grasp were on the same level as the things we perceive. 4th century BCE in Greece for Plato it is a way to explain our experiences in this world world of forms - believes we are destined to go back

Tanakh

The Hebrew Bible (1200 BCE - 100 BCE) in Judaism -composed in Hebrew and Aramaic -contains 24 books in 3 sections -the Torah or "Teaching,"; -the Nevi'im or Prophets; -the Ketuvim or Writings. -not the same as the Christian Old Testament - Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible or a collection of jewish texts which is also the source of the Old Testament. It consists of 24 books. In the Tanakh, it says that God will raise the martyred sons to new life, give them back spirit and body. In addition, the acceptance of the notion of reward and punishment in the afterlife. Resurrection is a collective and individual experience. It connotes the redemption of a whole people. The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)(1200 BCE-100 BCE) Composed in Hebrew and Aramaic Contains 24 books in three sections: - The Torah or "Teaching," also called the - - Pentateuch or the "Five Books of Moses"; - the Nevi'im or Prophets; - the Ketuvim or Writings. sacred text for Judaism 3 parts of what christians call the old testament but we call (jews) it the Hebrew Bible Application - verses about book of shomes shole, book of daniel: ressurection all this comes together to give us a glipmse of what the after life looks like

Maccabees

The Story about a family who would rather die than go against their religion(174 BCE) - If jews die for their religion and if they are righteous, they will be resurrected and others will be damned. - Emphasizes the importance of the physical body and being unable to separate life from the body which is the idea of a holistic persona They believe they will get their body back after death and therefore willing to surrender it for a noble cause Even though they were going to die they were going to be rewarded and resurrected Key ideas: individual and collective experience, bodily resurrection, and that God will raise the martyred sons to new life -Resurrection is a collective and individual experience. It connotes the redemption of a whole people.

Quran

The central religious text of Islam, meaning "recitation" or "reading", that was compiled into book format mid-600 CE. -Consists of 114 chapters that have a varying number of verses - Central religious text of Islamic Faith. Revelation from God. Quran was revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel gradually over 23 years starting from 609 CE. Emphasizes Unity of God. In the Islamic faith, before death, you are visited by the Angel of Death symbolizing that you cannot escape death. On the Last Day, God will raise everyone to be judged. Until then, deceased souls remain in their graves awaiting resurrection. Souls from barzakh reunite with body and go t heaven or hell are the words of revelation from allah to muhammad they are not wirtten by muhammad believed to be the word of god as reveiled through muhammad who is gods messenger angel gabriel came to speak to muhamad preaching the word of god which then became the Qur'an written down within the first generation of the prophet written down as a manuscript within th first 50 years after the prophet died talks about what happens to the body after it dies

Phaedo

Written by Plato, a 400 BCE greek philosopher, it contains 5 sections. 1. Initial discussion of the philosopher and death --> how the philosopher trains for death their whole life by separating the soul and the body. 2. 3 arguments for the soul's immortality 3. Objections to these arguments and Socrate's response, 4th argument included 4. Myth about the afterlife 5. Description of the final moments of Socrates' life --> who was put to death by the state of Athens in 399 BC Socrates thinks the act of studying philosophy is his preparation for death (purification of soul rather than body) He thinks you can have an immortal soul (psyche vs soma) The psyche and soma separate after death, and to have "good" separation, one must study philosophy. Philosophy is the purification of the soul, only way to gain unmistaken knowledge. Training for dying He has a theory of reincarnation - you may become a ghost or a wolf or reborn but not if you are a philosopher Knowledge through the senses is flawed/imperfect greek text written by plato in the form of dialogues 375 BCE talks about immortality of the soul through socrates plato writes as if socrates is saying all this stuff but we don't know if he said all this stuff socrates death plato's ideas of what death was. socrates talks about how the importance of the psyche is more important than the soma what u do with your body and what u do in this world, but how u develop your psyche is more important Christianity and greek world -- connections socrates gives an idea of what exactly happens at the moment of death. when you die your psyche peels off your body and goes to the world of form but if you only focus on your body your soul is not going to peel off your body