Death and Consciousness

Does bodily death mean the complete destruction of a person? The first part of this scholarly book defends the view that the nature of man and the world he encounters implies survival of death as a conceptual possibility. The second part considers the empirical evidence for concluding that at least some persons have survived death. A new kind of understanding, among readers, might result from following the concepts logically developed in this work, using real life terminology and experience.

David H. Lund is professor emeritus of philosophy at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota. He is enjoying his retirement on his farm in northern Minnesota.

David H. Lund

Format: softcover (5.5 x 8.5)
Pages: 204
Bibliographic Info: preface, notes, index
Copyright Date: 2012 [1985]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6746-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0944-7
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      ix

1. Scope and Method of the Study      1
2. The Case Against Belief in Survival      5
3. The Nature of the Self      10
4. The Role of the Body      23
5. Is Consciousness Produced by the Brain?      28
6. A Conception of Surviving in Another World      41
7. Science and the Paranormal      67
8. Out-of-the-Body Experience      71
9. Death-Bed Experiences      95
10. Apparitions and Hauntings      104
11. Mental Mediumship      120
12. Claimed Memories of Prior Lives      155
13. God and Christianity      169
14. Concluding Remarks      176

Notes      183
Index      191

• “a philosopher considers in a readable fashion the question of human survival of bodily death. Extensive discussion of the meaning of consciousness”—Choice
• “exceptional book about an intriguing subject. Highly recommended”—SSC BookNews
• “presents what has been said by others so well and so clearly that he has made a real contribution to the subject. Like a good philosophy teacher, he presents the question, discusses what has been said on the subject, and points out errors. Lund has made a real contribution to survival literature”—The Journal of Parapsychology
• “a welcome addition…offers a good summary of the main philosophical issues and highlights some of the important types of empirical data. It would make an intriguing text in a course on the philosophy of mind. It is clearly written”—Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
• “every so often a reviewer is allotted a book he would like to have written himself. Such a book for this reviewer is Death and Consciousness. The book deserves a wide readership”—Light