1. Rene Descartes developed a theory where he argued that reality was composed of two factors, the body and the mind. Descartes argued that the body is our tangible essence and our mind is the intangible presence. He argued that both the mind and body interact with one another. John Searle showcased his own version of dualism called supervenience theory. He argued that at time it can be dualism and at others it cannot. He claimed that the mental state in fact may not be intangible, but it still does exist.
2. George Berkley believed that the only real things are ideas. This is called idealism, a belief that claims that all real objects are nonphysical or intangible. However, Thomas Hobbes believed that the only that exists in our body is motion. He had an incredibly advanced outlook, he thought that our feelings, ideas, and even our thoughts were all physical entities of our body that occur because of the motion in out brain. This particular belief is extremely interesting because at his time there was no knowledge of neuroscience.
3. David Hume believed that the self cannot be proved. He argued that “the self” has no evidence. Hume argued that all our knowledge is based on our experiences and impressions. We are always changing. We are always experiencing something new in our lives that changes us even in a minimal way. According to Hume, because of this the self cannot bare evidence because it represents an illusion where we are constantly changing.
4. David Hume believes there is no evidence of the self. In other words, the self and see the self. If one stands in front of a mirror, they do not see the real self. They see a physical self that is not the real self. According to Milarepa’s view, he believed that we are always changing due to a multitude of experiences occurring in our everyday lives. Because of all of these changes the self can never really be identified. Both these great philosophers believed that we are not able to see the self and I personally agree with them.
5. Anselm attempted to produce a deductive proof to Gods existence. He argued that a perfect being must exist. His argument claimed that something that exist is more perfect than something that doesn’t. Since God is already a perfect being that can’t be more perfect then he must exist. However, Gaunilo argued that existence does not make something more perfect. He did this by employing a reductio ad absurdum argument. He did this by claiming the same as Anselm but about a perfect island. Something completely absurd. By simply believing something is real does not make the something real. Anselm countered Gaunilo by saying that his argument about God was completely different from the argument of a perfect island.
6. Sigmund Freud took a psychological approach to religious belief. He said that believing in a God is a way for people to escape the harsh truth of reality. Freud called the belief in God a “wish fulfillment”. In other words, he said that believing in a God gives people something to look forward to after death instead of facing the hard fact that there is nothing after death. Friedrich Nietzsche had a similar view. His view showed that an intelligent individual understands that God is a myth that is used to control the weak. He famously said, “God is dead!”. Not because he believed that God died, but to prove that God never existed. He believed that powerful people worked tediously to create this absurdity of a perfect being named God to worship in order to control the believers with their religious laws and practices.
7. Kierkegaard view on religious belief is irrational, which means that human beings cannot rationalize religion. He argued that truth is subjective, thus making it still possible that God does exist. Tolstoy’s view on religion is that faith is irrational and rational thinking cannot lead you to find the meaning of life. Rational thinking leads you to finding a more meaningful purpose of life.
8. When analyzing Pascual’s Wagner theory, it doesn’t guarantee you heaven. It claimed that there are multiple religions, and within each religion there are certain laws in which people that follow that specific religion live by. For example, in Christianity, they use the Bible as their guide and laws of life. And by following the Bible, they will get eternal life in Heaven.
9. William Paley’s version of the design argument is directly connected to the question if God is the creator of nature and the universe. This version uses the example of a watch. An object that is so complex must have had a creator. Since the universe is the most complex object as well as all our natural creatures, this leads us to believe that there is a creator responsible for such complex creations. Which is God.
10. The problem of evil can be put as follows: If there is an all knowing, all powerful being, why does Evil exist in this world? Theologist have been struggling to provide answers to such a difficult question for ages. It is argued that an all-powerful being will attempt to stop all Evil and that it can stop all evil. If such a being exists, then Evil should cease to exist. Mackie’s conclusion is that if God does exist, he must lack one of the three qualities. Either God is not all-knowing, so He cannot stop all evil, He is not all-powerful, so He cannot stop all evil, or He is not omni-benevolent, in which case He is indifferent to evil.
11. Hinduism is the collection of faiths that are believed to have originated in India, but scholars believe that it was brought to India by nomadic people a millennium ago. It is a system with various gods and goddesses. Buddhism was founded by Gautama Siddhartha Buddha in the fifth-century BCE, which took on forms of a religion and spread throughout Asia. Taoism was founded by Lao Tzu. This religion held that Tao is ineffable and beyond our ability to alter or change. It is believed that life, as well as everything else in our universe, is constantly influenced by outside forces that act in accordance with the Tao.
12. Tao is the main principle that runs the universe. Tao is divided into two opposite principles, the ying and the yang. According to Taoism, all opposites that exist in the world can be reduced to the ying and yang. Therefore, the ying and yang represent all opposing forces in the universe. Creation occurs under the yang, and the completion of creating occurs under the ying.
13. The principle of Taoism serves as the foundation of Feng Shui. Feng Shui is the art of divination and a method of influencing our future and destiny. Feng Shui has also been a guarded secret of the East and was completely misunderstood in the west.
14. Sogyal Rinpoche demonstrates how to pursue a spiritual path in the modern world and educated us in the practice of compassion, along with ways of advocating the dying. He intends to support others to die peacefully and helps each individual to experience a calm death that will in turn, help our next life in a positive way. He also teaches how to live a happy life. He teaches us about the interactions between life and death. Sogyal observed death as a normal process. He understood that death is inevitable. In this understanding he was lead to reach a calm mindset because he didn’t want to worry about what can’t be evaded. Therefore, he argued that in order to die well, one must live well.
15. There are many examples of cases that demonstrate scientifically the memories of a previous life and there are several examples of the little children who start to remember the phrases from their past life. An example of this incident in this chapter is when Taoism was studied, and the same raises the existence of reincarnation. According to Chuang Tzu, “death is not an end … There is no continuity in a starting point”. He states that reincarnation exists, and according to Taoist’s believes, immortality can be achieved by following the path of Tao.