Philosophy and Post-Mortem Survival with Stephen E. Braude

Stephen Braude, PhD, served as chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has also served as president of the Parapsychological Association. He is author of Crimes of Reason, The Gold Leaf Lady, Immortal Remains, The Limits of Influence, First Person Plural, and ESP and Psychokinesis. He is the recent recipient of the prestigious Myers Memorial Medal awarded by the Society for Psychical Research for outstanding contributions.

Here he suggests that in order to engage in the scientific study of post-mortem survival of personality, it is important to begin by clarifying exactly what is being studied. This requires an understanding of such terms as human identity and continuity. He notes that there are many ways, in daily life, that we ascertain the identity of other individuals without requiring the presence of a physical body. These same methods are applicable in survival research. He also discusses the philosophical issues associated with the living agent psi hypothesis as an alternative to post-mortem survival.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is a past vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology; and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that Association for his contributions to the field of human consciousness exploration. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.

(Recorded on July 9, 2016)