Classical Explanatory Arguments for Survival

Abstract

In Chapter 3 through Chapter 5 I have surveyed the phenomena of out-of-body and near-death experiences, mediumship, and cases of the reincarnation type (CORTs). Now that I have delineated the relevant data from these phenomena, I begin the exploration of arguments that have been proposed for supposing that these data severally or jointly provide reasons, perhaps good reasons, to suppose that the survival hypothesis is true. Classical empirical arguments for survival are attempts to show that the relevant data constitute evidence favorable toward the hypothesis of survival, and so they make a contribution to the justification of belief in survival. As traditionally formulated, the arguments are explanatory arguments. By explanatory I mean that the arguments at least incorporate reasons for supposing that the survival hypothesis explains the relevant data and does so in a way superior to all available competing explanations. This chapter outlines and explores the formal structure of two kinds of such arguments.