Immortal Remains

Stephen E. Braude

doi:10.5771/9781461637653

Summary

Do you believe in ghosts? Chances are you're either too willing, or not willing enough, to believe that personal consciousness survives after bodily death. Some underestimate the evidence for life after death, not realizing how impressive the most convincing cases are. Others overestimate it, rejecting alternative explanations too readily. In fact, several non-survivalist explanations—hidden or latent linguistic or artistic talents, extreme memory, even psychic abilities—are as interesting as the hypothesis of survival, and may be more plausible than their critics realize. Immortal Remains takes a fresh look at some of the most puzzling cases suggesting life after death, and considers how to tell evidence for an afterlife from evidence for exotic things (including psychic things) done by the living. Author Stephen E. Braude, who has done extensive research in parapsychology and dissociation, explores previously ignored issues about dissociation, creativity, linguistic skills, and the nature and limits of human abilities. He concludes that we have some reason, finally, for believing in life after death.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2003
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7425-1471-3
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4616-3765-3
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 329
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Preface No access
1. 1.1 Introduction No access
2. 1.2 Survival and Personal Identity No access
3. 1.3 Survival and Anomalous Knowledge No access
4. 1.4 The "Super-Psi" Hypothesis No access
5. 1.5 What Else Is Wrong with the Literature on Survival No access
1. 2.1 Introduction No access
2. 2.2 Outline of the Issues No access
3. 2.3 The Cagliostro Case No access
4. 2.4 Runki's Leg: The Case No access
5. 2.5 Runki's Leg: Theoretical Considerations and Nagging Concerns No access
6. 2.6 Concluding Remarks No access
1. 3.1 Introduction No access
2. 3.2 Outline of Mrs. Piper's Mediumship No access
3. 3.3 Examples of Mrs. Piper's Mediumship No access
4. 3.4 Mrs. Leonard's Mediumship No access
5. 3.5 Mediumship and Super-ESP No access
6. 3.6 Survival and the Causal Nexus No access
7. 3.7 The Cross-Correspondences No access
1. 4.1 Introduction No access
2. 4.2 Outline of the Case No access
3. 4.3 Objections to Stevenson's Report No access
4. 4.4 Akolkar's Report No access
5. 4.5 Super-Psi and Knowledge-How No access
6. 4.6 Xenoglossy and Dissociation No access
1. 5.1 Introduction No access
2. 5.2 Pearl Curran's Background No access
3. 5.3 The History, Style, and Personality of Patience Worth No access
4. 5.4 Writing Samples No access
5. 5.5 The Theoretical Challenge No access
6. 5.6 Non-Survivalist Conjectures No access
7. 5.7 Latency and Creativity: The Case of Hélène Smith No access
8. 5.8 Other Cases of Mediumistic Creativity No access
9. 5.9 Survivalist Conjectures No access
10. 5.10 Concluding Remarks No access
1. 6.1 Introduction No access
2. 6.2 The Case of Bishen Chand No access
3. 6.3 A Recent Early-Bird Case No access
4. 6.4 The Antonia Case No access
5. 6.5 The Sumitra/Shiva Case No access
6. 6.6 The Thompson-Gifford Case No access
7. 6.7 Concluding Remarks No access
1. 7.1 Introduction No access
2. 7.2 Haunting: Preliminaries No access
3. 7.3 Haunting: Comments No access
4. 7.4 Transplant Cases No access
5. 7.5 Transplant Cases: Comments No access
1. 8.1 Introduction No access
2. 8.2 Why Externalism? No access
3. 8.3 Distinctness and Independence No access
4. 8.4 Apparitions and Reciprocal OBEs No access
5. 8.5 Near-Death Experiences No access
6. 8.6 An Appeal to Systematicity No access
7. 8.7 Concluding Remarks No access
1. 9.1 Introduction No access
2. 9.2 Ideal Cases No access
3. 9.3 The Significance of Physiological Data No access
4. 9.4 The "Stuff' That Survives No access
5. 9.5 The Almeder/Hales Debate No access
6. 9.6 Summing Up No access
Bibliography No access Pages 307 - 322
Index No access Pages 323 - 328
About the Author No access Pages 329 - 329