Philosophical Inquiry

I've been studying philosophy off and on for over 45 years, but in the last 17 years, I've been concentrating on epistemology and near-death studies.

The first event is going to be an examination of the testimonial evidence for near-death experiences (NDEs). I've been studying NDEs for more than 17 years from around the world. I'm going to be looking at the evidence with the eyes of a philosopher, i.e., I'm going to look at the evidence using the tools of a philosopher (logic, epistemology, metaphysics, linguistic analysis, etc.).

The question I'm attempting to answer is whether the testimonial evidence is strong or weak concerning the belief that there is an afterlife. We will be examining the evidence from an epistemological perspective. In other words, if the evidence is strong, then what can we claim to know? This is not coming from a particular religious view, although it has religious implications. NDEs also have implications for the study of consciousness, and whether consciousness is strictly a function of the brain.

My epistemology is based on an interpretation of Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophical thinking expressed in the Philosophical Investigations and his last work (notes) called On Certainty. If there is enough interest, we will examine On Certainty in future classes.

This class, again, will concentrate on what we can know (justified true belief), not our opinions or our speculations, but what can we know, if anything.