Almeder on Stevenson

I read an article today by Robert F. Almeder, retired professor of philosophy at Georgia State University, in the Journal of Scientific Exploration titled “A Critique of Arguments Offered Against Reincarnation” (link). In the article Almeder makes the point that strong cases that provide empirical evidence for reincarnation—which the work of Ian Stevenson does—that evidence per se falsifies the modern theory that minds are the product of the brain, thus shattering the materialistic stance on human experience.

I got to thinking about that. What other empirical evidence do we have that “mind” or “soul” or “personality” are radically different from bodies and their functions? Near Death Experience reports fail on that score because, while technically the person undergoing an NDE may be dead (“clinical death”), he or she comes back to life to render an account, hence that “death” was not really final. Reincarnation cases are very different. Those who remember a prior life most definitely died but retain memories of another life in a current and new body. My conclusion, in effect, is that reincarnation cases may be the only evidence for the agency’s survival of death, evidence of the kind that may be called empirical, thus discoverable multiple times by different researchers, as has indeed been the case.

My own views on this subject are scattered throughout this blog and may be gathered by clicking on Reincarnation under Categories to the left. Almeder’s article requires some time and attention. A summary of his views is presented in the YouTube I show at the beginning of this post.