Briefly explain Green’s argument in the article entitled No -Self in Buddhism. What does he mean that there is no self? Briefly summarize his argument. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Please give reasons to support your claim.
Green begins his text by identifying the difficulty in the definition of self when talking about it in Buddhist terms. There is an agreement that if self refers to physical, ego, or soul, then there could be confusion and unclarity on what no-self meant. Green argues that the word self as used in those Buddhist teachings may have been different from the modern definition present in many different cultures. Thus, he goes ahead to argue that no-self did not categorically deny the existence of the three factors of ego, soul, or physical. That means that no-self did not mean that the physician did not exist, that the soul did not exist, or that ego did not exist. No-self supported both existence and non-existence. It referred to the avoidance of attachment to desires or worldly things. Instead of clinging to things or situations, one would be better at detaching himself from all forms of physical pleasures or desires, which would, in turn, lead to the non-existence of ego or other unhealthy results of attachment.
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I agree with Green's observation of no-self in Buddhism. The confusion and difficulty of classifying its exact meaning is indeed a challenge. It would have confusing messages if it were applied to the three forms: physical, ego, or soul. However, by identifying it as a way of detaching one from unnecessary belongings or feelings, he clarifies its benefit for Buddhists. If humans learn not to identify and pursue their desires, then they may be saved from the pain and suffering that results.
John Hick argues that human beings are psychophysical persons. He believes a person can be resurrected through a divine act of recreation. How does he defend this position? Do you agree with Hick? Why or why not? Please provide reasons to support your claim.
John Hick believes in the existence of the human soul that forms part of the afterlife through the recreation of its owner’s body in line with Judeo-Christian beliefs. To him, when a person dies, God resurrects him by recreating his/her psychopersona. The living person is that a finite mortal who can only exist post-death via the divine powers of God to recreate him in the spiritual dimension. Hick gives a three-step analogy of a man called John Smith to elaborate his argument. In the first incident, if John Smith vanishes from the Us and appears in Calcutta, India, with his physical, mental, and emotional statuses intact, he would be accepted as the same American John Smith. If this John Smith was to die and a new version of himself appears afterward with the same emotional, mental, and physical features intact, people would have to accept him as the original John Smith. Lastly, if this John Smith was to die and appear in another dimension is the same, then this new psychopersona creature was the work of God. He Hick uses parapsychology as evidence of life after death. He cites telepathy as a reason why mediums can speak to the dead even after death by retrieving their spirits from the minds of those who knew them while alive.
I cannot entirely agree with John Hick's psychopersona theory since even if it were true, the person would not be resurrected but rather a clone created since the two do not share the same body. His argument of mediums using telepathy to retrieve shared knowledge about the dead from the living means they do not involve the living spirit of the deceased, which exists in another realm. Other post mortem survival experiences such as reincarnation memories, out-of-body experiences, or near-death experiences have not been proven to be accurate (CUNY, n.d.). Mediums have also not been proven to have any psychic abilities, nor their predictions recorded as accurate. There have been numerous stories of such people being scammers or con people who use clever tricks or knowledge such as psychology and observational skills to "read" their clients.
References
CUNY. (n.d.). The Existence of Souls and the Resurrection . In Philosophy of Religion . Website for Queensborough Community College. https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/phil_of_religion_text/chapter_7_souls/Survival_of_Soul.htm
