Personal Ontology - Mystery and Its Consequences

What are we? Are we, for example, souls, organisms, brains, or something else? This book discusses the main competing accounts of personal ontology that we are either souls, or we are composite physical objects of some sort, and includes a detailed discussion of the metaphysics of several afterlife scenarios.

List of contents

1. Introduction; 2. Arguments against substance dualism - Part 1; 3. Arguments against substance dualism - Part 2: Pairing problems; 4. Arguments for substance dualism; 5. Interlude: what exactly is the difference between our being immaterial souls and our being composite physical objects?; 6. Non-Self - Part 1: Arguments against our existence; 7. Non-Self - Part 2: The self exists; 8. Personal ontology and life after death - Part 1: Resurrection, Reincarnation; 9. Personal ontology and life after death - Part 2: Mind uploading; Bibliography; Index.

About the author

Andrew Brenner is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University. He has published articles in journals including Analysis, The Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy of Science, Synthese, Erkenntnis, and Philosophy East and West.

Product details

• Authors: Brenner Andrew
• Publisher: Cambridge Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 31.08.2025
• EAN: 9781009367066
• ISBN: 978-1-009-36706-6
• Illustrations: Worked examples or Exercises
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Other world religions; BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Afterlife & Reincarnation, PHILOSOPHY / Epistemology, PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics, PHILOSOPHY / Eastern, Popular philosophy, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge, East Asian and Indian philosophy, Oriental & Indian philosophy, The afterlife, reincarnation and past lives, The afterlife, reincarnation & past lives