PAPER NO. 81

ON REINCARNATION

1. Belief in reincarnation is the belief that the soul which departs from the body at death re-enters at birth another body (human or animal). This belief assumes the preexistence of the soul and that the soul is eternal, without beginning. Belief in reincarnation also assumes that the process of reincarnation will come to an end when the soul has achieved an enlightened state. Belief in reincarnation is held in all forms of Hinduism and Buddhism and in many forms of dualism. Sometimes this belief is held by maintaining different levels of truth. Belief in reincarnation, like all other beliefs about the afterlife, is a basic belief, affecting all aspects of thinking about individual human destiny and human culture.
2. Empirical reasons for belief in reincarnation and responses to these reasons.

1. Deja vu is the sense that I have seen this before , although it could not have been in this life. Therefore, it must have been in a previous life.

Response: the sense that one is remembering rather than perceiving for the first time can be explained as an unusual phenomena of brain chemistry or double neural firings.

2. Hypnotic regressions are said to bring to light memories of previous lives.

Response: that what comes to mind is memory from previous lives rather than knowledge imparted some other way cannot be verified; and, since reports from hypnotic regressions conflict (several persons report being Napoleon etc.) they are not to be accepted on the face of it.

3. Special psychic powers displayed by some persons are said to have been acquired in a previous life.

Response: these powers can be explained in other ways, either naturally (as clever tricks) or supernaturally (as operations of spirits).

3. Philosophical reasons for belief in reincarnation and responses to these reasons.

1. Reincarnation is said to be an alternative to no afterlife.

Response: there are other alternatives: one can learn as well by living one longer life; the soul may go on without the body; there could have been no death originally; one may change from mortality to immortality without death.

2. Reincarnation is said to explain circumstances of this life in terms of previous lives.

Response: explanations from previous lives do not justify particular conduct in this life—the actor’s  tale of adultery; explanations from previous lives do not necessitate explanations in this life—the doctor’s tale of hard cases; explanations from previous lives are not conclusive—the lottery winner’s tale of changing fortunes.

3. Reincarnation is said to be just, since we suffer for our own karma (deeds) from previous lives.

Response: it is not just to suffer through many births and deaths to know what is objectively not clear.

4. Reincarnation is said to be hopeful since we have many lives to get it right rather than one life only.

Response: it is not hopeful if we have been through innumerable lives before this one.

5. Reincarnation is said to be necessary if the soul is eternal.

Response: it is not possible for reincarnation to reach its goal of enlightenment since there cannot be a unique event in an eternal being.

4. Higher levels of truth claims regarding reincarnation and responses to these claims.

1. If there is no unique event in an eternal being, then it is said that reincarnation is a beginningless and endless cycle, contrary to the popular view.

Response: if there is no beginning nor end, then striving for release is meaningless.

2. If an endless cycle makes life meaningless, then reincarnation (samsara) is said to be an illusion (maya), or ignorance (avidya), contrary to popular view.

Response: if our existence is an illusion, then it cannot be explained in whose mind the illusion resides. It cannot be in our minds since our minds are the product of the illusion; and it cannot be in God’s mind since God cannot have an illusion.

3. If the nature of the world as illusion (maya) cannot be explained then this problem must be due to the limitation of reason. One must give up reason at this point.

Response: reason cannot be given up and any belief kept. This would be a lack of integrity. The meaningless belief should be given up in the name of reason.

5. Is theistic reincarnation possible?

In this view the soul is created by God and therefore the soul had a beginning. It is not beginningless. It reincarnates until enlightenment is reached. Reincarnation assumes that the knowledge to be achieved is objectively unclear.

Response:

1. If we suffer through many births and deaths to know what is objectively unclear, then God is not just. But if it is objectively clear, then we do not need many lives in order to know it. One life is sufficient.
2. If the human soul may pass through many life forms without preserving any distinct human quality in these other life forms, then the soul would be an essenceless reality, contrary to logical possibility.

6. Is it possible that the soul in this life already knows everything?

1. It is self-evident that the soul does not know everything.
2. If the soul knows everything then it must always have known everything, to avoid the problem of a unique event in an eternal being.
3. If the soul knows everything, then its present reincarnation is not necessary.
4. If the soul knows everything, then no form of enlightenment is needed or possible.
5. To avoid saying ‘I know’ and ‘do not know’ at the same time and the same respect, the unity of the self as knower must be denied, contrary to our most basic intuition.

This paper was originally developed for an Introduction to Philosophy course.

© 1992 Logos Papers Press