靈魂存在嗎？——瀕死經驗的啟示

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.人有靈魂嗎唯物論與二元論的哲學爭論很複雜任何一方要徹底駁倒另一方都不容易。隨著醫學進步近年不少關於瀕死經驗(NDE)的研究為這問題提供不少新的資料。若有一些NDE 被證明是可靠和真實的話的確會對唯物論構成挑戰。本文會指出對NDE 的認識與醫療照顧特別是垂危的病人息息相關然後探討種種對瀕死經驗的自然主義解釋。生理學理論包括NDE 純粹是藥物的作用是缺氧所致等。而心理學理論則包括建構論人格解體的效應幻想和想像或出生時的記憶等。我認為現時還沒有醫學科學或心理學的理論能充分和全面解釋NDE 的現象。我接著探討一些可靠知覺的案例和研究並指出這對瀕死經驗的可靠性提供相當支持。我的結論是NDE 的存在是不能抹殺的而且NDE 對靈魂的存在似乎提供了某程度的支持。Do human beings have a soul? The philosophical debate between materialism and dualism is highly complex, and it is difficult for one side to convince the other. Due to advances in modern medicine, we now have much more research on the phenomena of near-death experiences (NDEs), and these new data provide more information to settle this debate. If some NDEs were shown to be veridical, it would pose a challenge to materialism.This paper is the first to argue that the understanding of NDEs is in fact very relevant to medical care, especially the care of terminally ill patients. I explore various naturalistic explanations of NDEs. Physiological theories appeal to the effects of drugs or oxygen deficiency. Psychological theories include constructivism, the defense mechanism of depersonalization, and the appeal to fantasy. I argue that these theories cannot provide an adequate explanation of the phenomena of NDE. I then examine cases of veridical perception in NDE and review the related research. I argue that these cases provide considerable support for the veridicality of at least some NDEs. I finally conclude that we should not dismiss the significance of NDEs and that they seem to provide some support for the existence of the soul.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 3681 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.